THE BRITISH THREAD II

I am a Darwinian and never been more proud.

or should that be prouder?

well its a wonderful late summer day here. Sunny warm still

and I'm off on my immaculately restored 1958 Whittaker racing cycle.

When I come back (maybe if I come back) I will sort out the worlds financial crisis.

My elderly and somewhat eccentric neighbour has just been commenting on recent British sporting achievements. "We have some of the fittest cripples in the world"

made me laugh anyway.

As I said before, and no-one wanted to discuss it, the whole idea of a paralympics event seems to me bizarre, political correctness gone mad.

And I'm sure that calling anyone a "cripple" would get you the sack in Manchester Town Hall.

Hey all

stevie... woulda made me laugh too mate!

mac - how'sit Stateside? Hoping you're having the BEST time.

x

Hiya Izzie

Having a splendid time thanks , and have put on half-a-stone already.

Well, having earnt my money working with disabled, having a heavily disabled SIL - I'm perhaps biased.
But what I know is: they (the disabled) like the Paralympics very much.
(And 'yes', some of them are what "normal" people call mad, others are 'cripples'.)

OH MY!!!!!!



Heck... live once - eat Mac - ENJOY!!!! x


(loved CI's photos)

Thanks Izzie.
We are in Portland now, leaving for Nevada tomorrow.
Making the most of the excellent restaurants and good company.

who is this '70's rock star?

Hey I've only got four guitars. Jimmy Page has got many more.

Okay I will be away from computers for a while, probably. Taxi comes in 50 minutes. We're off to Vegas, to try our luck (and the wife's patience) so I bid you good-day.

The words of this ditty by Mr Charles Berry have been running in my mind lately:

Promised Land

I left my home in Norfolk Virginia
California on my mind
I straddled that Greyhound
And rode into Raleigh
And on across Caroline

We had motor trouble that turned into a struggle
Halfway across Alabam'
And that hound broke down and left us all stranded
In downtown Birmingham

Right away I brought me a through train ticket
Ridin' across Mississippi clean
And I was on that midnight flyer out of Birmingham
Smoking into New Orleans

Somebody help me get out of Louisiana
Just to help me get to Houston Town
There are people there who care a little about me
And they won't let the poor boy down

Sure as she bore me, she bought me a silk suit
Put luggage in my hand
And I woke up high over Alburquerque
On a jet to the promised land

Working on a T-bone steak a la carte
Flying over to the golden state
Ah when the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
He would set us at the terminal gate

Swing low chariot come down easy
Taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines and cool your wings
And let me make it to the telephone

Los Angeles give me Norfolk Virginia
Tidewater four ten o nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling
And the poor boy is on the line

That's song writing of the infant's school.

Reads similar to Dylan, if you ask me.

That's what comes of being a left-side defense Tico. Heading the goal kicks back upfield too often.

I should have added that my laughter was part in shock that he would use such politically incorrect language. But it was clear he was not laughing at disability per se .... or no one would have found it at all funny.

Hey McT glad you're enjoying the states. You get blow out meals, I get the blow outs.

Well punctures actually. I could be personally very politically incorrect with some of the people who scatter broken glass on the cycle tracks round here.

Did you join Boris riding through car-free London?


Source: Evening Standard (noon edition), 22.09.08, page 3

(Nearly) on the topic 'biking':

when I took part at an oldtimer rally, I noticed an Austin (?) (and I mean the black car).




Who made the "wooden" cars in the 60's? Wolsley? Morgan?

NO!

I forgot the event was on or I would have been there. Cycled instead to Adrewsfield

http://www.andrewsfield.com/

for breakfast. Cycled between two planes, one landing the other taking off

but otherwise rather uneventful, apart from the 3 legged cat who fell off the table.

Morgan used to make the frame of their fabled 4+4 and Morgan 8 out of ash or balsa wood (or was it papier mashe?)...

But I think the 1/2 timbered car you might be remembering was the Morris Traveller estate car. I am not clever enough to find retrieve and post a picture, but I'm sure you can.

On a slightly more serious topic, since you asked, which you didnt, I thought Gordon Brown's speech was quite inspirational. Or rather I would if I were not so cynical and depressed about the state of the world.

Back to old cars. Friend of mine just bought a 1936 Morris 8 (eight as in eight horse power). Please do not ask me why.

Well, I was driving in a Maico 500/4 - '500' the ccm, "4" as in fourseater.[If you had looked at your emails, you would have known that.]



The most impressive think with this car was ... the glove box (most probably designed only for the driver's gloves):