Vintage Rails @ Beech Bend Raceway Park

The first stop on our recent family vacation was Beech Bend drag strip in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to see the Hot Rod Reunion and the associated Vintage Drag meet.

It was spectacular. This little video I made is a compilation of some of the rails we saw that weekend.

INCREDIBLE McCain GIRL!

I love this video ... the bodybuilder is Colette Nelson.



And, here are the outtakes ...

The Face of Today's Episcopal "church" ...

This is today's Episcopal "church" ...

"John Bennison groomed me over time to be his sexual toy," said Martha. "He was very exacting and specific in what he expected in technique. It was progressive over time. It eventually grew to include everything you could possibly imagine."

Thingie Proxy Race 2008 - Proxy Diaries

Even though we broke in Düsseldorf, being a part of this great race is still a huge thrill for me and Eliot. At the link below, you may read the Proxy Diaries penned by Edo Bertoglio, one of the great masterminds behind this race series.

Here is a photo of some maintenance being done to the Thingie slot cars:



And here is the link to the Proxy Diaries ...

We broke in Düsseldorf !

Unfortunately, the Anglican Beach Party Mongoose slot car broke in the Düsseldorf race. A wire came un-soldered from the motor. Alas!

Nevertheless, in the spirit of Thingie camaraderie, I present to you a short film by Chris Bruyninx, a Thingie co-conspirator of ours from Belgium, which features oldish geezers like myself playing with 40-year-old toy cars on the Düsseldorf track. To re-live one's youth is a splendid thing, indeed.

Why She Left ECUSA (Parts 1-4)

Anne Coletta (innocent as doves) is writing a series on why, as a wife and mother, she felt compelled to leave The Episcopal church.

Of course, having recently made that same decision, Anne's story would be compelling to me. But you read it and see what you think. I think her story is pretty typical of the thousands of Episcopalians who are realizing that TEc is anything but Christian!

I believe the Episcopal Church as an institution, based on the words and actions of most of her church leadership and her bishops, has left the Christian faith.

Read Part 1 here ...

Part 2 is here ...

And here is Part 3

So far, she is up to Part 4.

Hat Tip: Billy Ockham

CEMA Car Show @ Walter P. Chrysler Museum

This is the 2nd year in a row, at the invitation of CEMA (and High & Mighty II team) member Bob Lees, that Eliot and I have attended the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association Charity Car Show. It was great last year, with a lecture by the Golden Commandos race team from the 1960s, and it was great again this year with Jack Smith, the former Plymouth Product Planning Manager, who brought to birth the 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner.

Here is a photo of Jack, emphasizing a point of the Roadrunner's history ...



And here is a short video we took of some cars at the event ...

Muscle Car Show

Eliot and I attended the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association Car Show today, and it was wonderful, as always. The speaker was superb: Jack Smith, former Plymouth Product Planning Manager, and the man who brought to birth the 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner.

Smash hits like the Roadrunner (it sold something like 20 times as well as predicted) seem to accumulate, in retrospect,. an aura of inevitability. But, back in 1967, this vehicle had many near-misses, many moments in which it might easily have miscarried or been stillborn.

The kind of heroics that men like Jack Smith have achieved to bring such a project to birth should not be forgotten.

Here is me ... with a 1968 Dodge Charger. Get it ... muscle car?



Video to follow ... when I get a chance to edit it.

Orphan Car Show Video - Part 2

Here is Part 2 of the video I took at the 2008 Orphan Car Show in Ypsilanti, Michigan:

Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show - 2008

This was, as always, a spectacular show.

An "orphan car" is basically an antique car whose parent company has gone out of business (e.g., Hudson, Studebaker, Packard, DeSoto).

Here is Part 1 of a two-part video I made. I'm primarily interested in post-WWII vehicles, so that's what is included here, but this show always features fabulous early (even pre 1910!) cars.

Holy St. Eligius, pray for us!

Good and holy St Eligius, patron saint of metal workers, please pray that through my God given talents I may bring joy to others. Amen.



St. Eligius of Noyon, Bishop is the patron saint of metal workers, carriage makers, and mechanical engineers. So, it only makes sense that, in my car hobby, I begin the day's work with a quick plea to St. Eligius, beseeching his intercession for the work to come. I find it more pleasant and expeditious to invoke the name of a saint beforehand than to find myself reeling off various misappropriated theological terms at some later stage of the project, when things have momentarily gone wrong.

But chiefly do I find it convenient so to do when I fire up this rascal: