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rain_gryphonA fellow down the corridor has shoes that squeak loudly. Very loudly. This engenders great merriment. It's boring here at 2am.
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So, Thursday is not only the Twin 150s, but also Half Price Chocolate Day.
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I watched a retrospective program on Daytona the other day. They showed the remarkable finish of '76, when Petty and Bobby Allison took one another out on the last lap, then had that bizarre low-speed race to the finish in their wrecked cars.
It's ironic that NASCAR considers this a highlight, yet has instituted about 50 different rules that make sure nothing like that could ever happen today. They're slowly killing the sport, I think. They're so intent on making sure that every race ends in a photofinish with popular drivers that the competitiveness has really gone out of it. What you've got anymore isn't a 500 mile race, but really just a series of short trophy dashes with the field being reset between them.
That being said, I'll still watch. It's fun to watch, but I think that in a few years it's going to have a loss of fan base like CART did in the 90s, and for much the same reasons.
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Speed Channel keeps running this bizarre commercial that recreates the finish of the '79 Daytona 500 with cars made out of cake. The Allison boys and Cale Yarborough smash into one another and riot in the infield (Donnie arrives by parachute, for some reason), while Richard Petty coasts to victory standing on the roof of his car, arms raised in triumph. It's oddly engrossing. I want to see more great moments in racing history recreated with cake.
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Batman hoax shuts down school. Because we're all in mortal danger anytime we see someone dressed as Batman, I guess.
"We’re in an area where we’re in a desert, and we have to take these reports seriously." This line kind of stumps me. Are Batman sightings more common in the desert? Is there more reason to fear superheroes in general in the desert?
The underlying problem here is that we live in a society which is obsessed with finding blame, and can't admit that the smallest risk is worth running. Even if the Principal is sure that the kid is lying, no matter how stupid or unlikely the report, they have to react in such a way as to guard against the worst possible outcome, no matter what it costs. It's easy to heap scorn on the school officials for stuff like this, and for things like the boy who's looking at a felony conviction for pulling the fire alarm, but really, what other choice are they left? When a practical joke will pretty reliably cost tens of thousands of dollars, it makes sense to treat it as a serious crime.
*****
I don't think I'd want to be a kid today. The toys are (in general) better than what we had, but it's not worth all the other shit they're expected to put up with.
*****
John Frum's body lies a'mouldering in the grave, but his cult goes marching on.
*****
So, Thursday is not only the Twin 150s, but also Half Price Chocolate Day.
*****
I watched a retrospective program on Daytona the other day. They showed the remarkable finish of '76, when Petty and Bobby Allison took one another out on the last lap, then had that bizarre low-speed race to the finish in their wrecked cars.
It's ironic that NASCAR considers this a highlight, yet has instituted about 50 different rules that make sure nothing like that could ever happen today. They're slowly killing the sport, I think. They're so intent on making sure that every race ends in a photofinish with popular drivers that the competitiveness has really gone out of it. What you've got anymore isn't a 500 mile race, but really just a series of short trophy dashes with the field being reset between them.
That being said, I'll still watch. It's fun to watch, but I think that in a few years it's going to have a loss of fan base like CART did in the 90s, and for much the same reasons.
*****
Speed Channel keeps running this bizarre commercial that recreates the finish of the '79 Daytona 500 with cars made out of cake. The Allison boys and Cale Yarborough smash into one another and riot in the infield (Donnie arrives by parachute, for some reason), while Richard Petty coasts to victory standing on the roof of his car, arms raised in triumph. It's oddly engrossing. I want to see more great moments in racing history recreated with cake.
*****
Batman hoax shuts down school. Because we're all in mortal danger anytime we see someone dressed as Batman, I guess.
"We’re in an area where we’re in a desert, and we have to take these reports seriously." This line kind of stumps me. Are Batman sightings more common in the desert? Is there more reason to fear superheroes in general in the desert?
The underlying problem here is that we live in a society which is obsessed with finding blame, and can't admit that the smallest risk is worth running. Even if the Principal is sure that the kid is lying, no matter how stupid or unlikely the report, they have to react in such a way as to guard against the worst possible outcome, no matter what it costs. It's easy to heap scorn on the school officials for stuff like this, and for things like the boy who's looking at a felony conviction for pulling the fire alarm, but really, what other choice are they left? When a practical joke will pretty reliably cost tens of thousands of dollars, it makes sense to treat it as a serious crime.
*****
I don't think I'd want to be a kid today. The toys are (in general) better than what we had, but it's not worth all the other shit they're expected to put up with.
*****
John Frum's body lies a'mouldering in the grave, but his cult goes marching on.
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Let them eat cake!
Date: 2007-02-15 11:37 am (UTC)Just checked out the Daytonas on Stutube, wow. Yes, history presented using muffins would be great. Or the future, starring cookies!
One of the person studying gun crime round here has the middle name of "Batman"! Poor person. And I loved the specilised add on that article tooo....re-create this moment with a real batman cape!
P.S. Squeauk squeak squeaky shoes
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 11:42 am (UTC)I loved watching that Speed Channel while I was over there