Hot neon and cool cars

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Spent a couple of days with my grandson driving upriver to the Neon Nights event as part of the Cruise the Gorge car show and cruise-in at The Dalles in central Oregon.
I booked a room Friday night with a view of the boulevard where we could watch the show in the comfort of A/C (it was 96° at dusk) but soon took to the sidewalk to stroll the whole loop (about a mile and a half).
A lot of beautiful cars and trucks dressed up in neon lights and sounding off their engines.
Not an electric car anywhere in sight.
I've been a motor head all my life and nothing excites me more than a racing engine, big or small, wailing away down the track or even stoplight grand prix racing.
Be a shame when it all goes the way of the horse and buggy with the full implementation of electric vehicles as personal transportation.
Thankfully, after I've moved on to the pit area in the sky.
The next morning was the car show proper up above the city at 15 acre Sorosis Park, with stunning views of the Columbia River flowing through the Gorge.
The grandson, who just graduated high school, was smitten with every car there. We spent 3 hours looking at cars from the 1920s up to brand new.
Did a lot of walking those two days but was back home Saturday night.
Sunday morning brought the annual Portland Bridge Pedal with my son, crossing 6 bridges, closed to traffic, on bikes for a total of 20 miles.
The Fremont bridge was the last and highest at almost 250 above the water, quite a pedal pounder.
Ahh, but coasting down the other side was exhilarating.
Spent all day Monday recuperating.
New knees working just fine, thanks Dr. DaSilva.
Have nothing else going for the rest of the month, 'cept harvesting. And the tomatoes are ripening fast, along with the zucchini, beans, and corn.
Heh, neighbors are back to closing their blinds when they see me coming up the driveway with bags of produce.
I kid, but they politely let me know they are flush with my potatoes, onions, and cilantro.
Gonna take another load of onions and potatoes to the food bank tomorrow.
Thread is open so speak up.
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or Barbie blitz or maybe it is a combination of both.

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earthling1's picture

@humphrey
The awesome power of propaganda is becoming so blatantly obvious, more and more Americans are beginning to look up (h/t John Brunner) and ridicule the media.
Can too much propaganda defeat it purpose?
We are about to find out.
Thanks for stopping by.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

@humphrey Neither RFK Jr. nor Stein got on the NY ballot. Will the uncommitted tuck tail and vote Harris, or get revenge by voting Trump?
We shall see.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

According to the campaign’s most recent press release, the campaign has now met the ballot access requirements in 45 states and one district. The Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is officially on the ballot in 17 states, has submitted its signatures in 22 states and D.C., and has collected enough signatures for ballot access in an additional 6 states.

“In many instances, we’ve collected two, three, and sometimes four times as many signatures necessary to get on the ballot, and they’ve been filed at a very high validity rate so that the Democrats and those who are challenging us have not actually been able to challenge signatures,” said Paul Rossi, Kennedy Campaign Senior Council, during a press briefing last week.

The campaign is in the process of collecting signatures in the remaining five states, leaving the probability of RFK jr being on all 50 state and DC ballots well within reach.

The more important goal is to get Kennedy a place in whatever sort of public “debate” is being offered in this strange and shape shifting election cycle.

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“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024

enhydra lutris's picture

bit jealous. I did just fix the visor on the passenger side of our pick up, it seems that the design changes in 2019 and later made them prone to failure, but the repair is fairly easy with a cheap mail order fix-it kit.

Also envy the bike ride. Used to be something of the mad bicyclist myself, but haven't ridden in years.

currently involved in many projectos, including tearing down a less than successful structure
built to protect stuff stored outside from rain so as to re-use the materials to improve the protective "covers" on one raised bed.

Also cat sitting. Indoor-only cat, which ergo mandates mucho special door protocols to keep gato in and also out of the garage/shop.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

earthling1's picture

@enhydra lutris
The kids and grandkids are always leaving them in our care while they are away on vacation.
It certainly helped ease the painful loss of our beloved cat/dog Spencer over a year ago.
Earthling2 has befriended a couple of crows hanging around the yard. She feeds them and gives them water to soak their bread in. And she talks to them and they are starting to talk back. They have taken up chasing the squirrels out of the garden and we suspect leaving these mysterious little mice carcuses with no heads on the back porch.
Crows are funny creatures. Also very smart.
Thanks for the post.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

@earthling1 Crows! I befriended two crows for a couple of years (I called them Russell and Cheryl) and learned a lot about them. They can live to be 70 years old, are highly intelligent and cooperative, and have facial recognition that can last decades. I met a fellow who told me the following story:

The man became close friends with a crow, to the point that the bird would alight on his arm and he would feed it. After two years of feeding the crow daily in this manner, the crow took off and he did not see it for seven years. One day, seven years later, when he was walking somewhere more than twenty miles from his home, one crow out of the of a 20+ murder (one rarely gets to use that word in a pleasant context) flying overhead came down, and the fellow stuck out his arm. His old friend perched on his arm for a few moments, then flew off, never to be seen by the man since. The crow had recognized him after several years, and just dropped down to say hello - and possibly thank him for the easy living those two years.

I have moved across town and have not seen Russell and Cheryl for five years now, and I had not seen them in the last three years that I lived at my former place. I keep my eyes peeled for them, though, and I hope to have something with me to feed them if they do recognize me and let me know.

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janis b's picture

@Bring Back Civics

I hope you meet them again, but if not, what a wonderful experience you had.

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earthling1's picture

@Bring Back Civics
on crows and their intelligence with the researcher always wearing !monster mask whenever in the presence of a pair.
They would not respond to him without the mask, but would if he was anywhere the neighborhood wearing it.
Don't pass one off though.
Brother in law related the story of a crow he shooed off his truck, and subsequently found crow poop on his truck every morning thereafter. Until he traded his truck in for a new one. Different color just to be safe.
Have a great day.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

QMS's picture

.
Only have seen the Columbia along the coastal areas.
Glad you can still pedal!

Thanks for sharing E1

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truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security

While we were on the road last week, there must have been a car show going on somewhere. We drove alongside numerous classic cars and trucks. All of them were in mint condition.
e1, your description of the landscape is awesome!
I admire your bike stamina and am thrilled your store-bought knees are doing their job.
Your fun times make me want to plan ahead for some scenic tours this winter.
Thanks for the OT, friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

The late art critic Robert Hughes (Shock of the New) in his television series absolutely understood cars design as art. I think this is the segment where he talks about American cars. But I think he had other better clips on it. Part on cars is at the end of clip.

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earthling1's picture

@MrWebster
the head designer at Studebaker in the 50s and 60s. one of his last and most lasting design legacies was the Avanti. I was once a proud owner of a '64 R2. The '53 Commander was another. Both were sharp departures from other Detroit offerings.
Of course, the new mid engine Corvette rivels any European or Italian jobs, not including the multimillion dollar supercars.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

The Hindsight Times's picture

@earthling1 Studebaker was never a Detroit company. They were headquartered and built in South Bend, Indiana where I was raised. We went to the Studebaker museum in grade school. Lots of the older generation had worked there until they closed. Avanti was still made there but that moved to Ohio in the late 1980's. Last year when I visited the parents all of the Studebaker factory buildings were gone with only the former headquarters and a dealership that has been the museum still standing.

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earthling1's picture

@The Hindsight Times
was Studebaker central all the way back to when the brothers made freight wagons for the US Calvary.
IIRC, they sold the design rights of the Avanti to a Canadian concern that continued producing them as Avanti IIs in Canada, but the fiberglass bodies were still made in South Bend. The same factory that made the Corvette bodies for Chevy.
I don't know if the Corvette bodies are still made there.
The Canadian cars had Chevy engines.
Thanks for sharing.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

likely many more countries than the following example.

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earthling1's picture

@humphrey
not actual people.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Captain Gus was The Dept. of Public Safety big guy around here for many years. He had clout of such proportion that when the new sheriff went on a rampage and raided a dozen illegal gambling houses in the county, the sheriff missed the one that Captain Gus' mom operated.
He lost his cache' when he retired. He was recently arrested for solicitation of prostitution.
Oopsies.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

QMS's picture

@on the cusp
.
.
up the ladder. What goes around, comes around as they say.

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truth is considered foreign influence, world peace is a threat to national security

earthling1's picture

@QMS
in my Union circles: "You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down, so be nice."

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

we had tomatoes on the vine, ripe, ready, when we left for 7 days, and my secretary was offered to come and get 'em. We hae kept her in cherry tomatoes for weeks.
We got home, they had withered on the vine.
Guess she was tomato-ed-out?
I didn't know that happened.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

earthling1's picture

@on the cusp
Learn how to stagger crops to spread the ripening period. I know some climes in the south can get 3 crops a year. But kinda short growing season up here at the 46th Lat. I've staggered the corn by a few weeks but not sure the latent plantings will pollinate properly.
This is a test of my emergency pollination procedures (by hand).

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

@earthling1 Pollination of corn by hand is good for small rows.
Good that you use the Three Sisters corn/beans/squash method. Worked for the Incans!
Works for us.

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5 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981