June 4, 2021
Readers of the Quarantine Blog know that my favorite car is a 1959 Chevrolet Brookwood Station Wagon (the car pictured here sold for $17,500 – Dad sold mine for $35, but I’ve told you that story). The late 50s and early 60s were a time of big fins and big tail lights, not to mention automobiles just slightly smaller than a battleship. Really big. Huge. Well, with that introduction, today starts a look at some very different cars. Some made it to production. Some never made it off of the concept stage. But all were very interesting means of transport.
When car designers try to push the boundaries of car design, you get either a major breakthrough or a big failure. The 1933 Fuller Dymaxion should have been a major breakthrough given the skills of its designer, R. Buckminster Fuller, but he pushed the boundaries too far. The Fuller Dymaxion is closer in design to a dirigible than a car. Its angled back, three-wheel design led to performance problems that made it almost undriveable. Three cars were made, but none of them resolved the problems. The project ended after a fatal crash during testing, and the Fuller Dymaxion never made it to the market.
The Renault Dauphine from 1956 is a car that suffered from cost-cutting measures. The most notable problem is that the car was slow, very slow. It took more than 30 seconds to reach 60 mph from a standstill, which is bad for a car of any time period. Combined with slow acceleration, the Renault Dauphine also had a problem with its construction quality. Thin metal components, unattractive interiors, and a strange exterior made it a hard sell. It also proved to be unreliable since they would rust, start to come apart, and wear down within a few years.
More examples of cars that didn’t make it on Monday.
👉 In 1999 a great baseball commercial ran starring two Hall of Fame pitchers, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddox. The commercial opens with Mark McGuire hitting a home run and some ladies in the stands going ooohhhhhh and aaaahhhhhh, much to the annoyance of the pitchers. Watch it, and then I'll come back to the story.
Well, chicks aren’t the only ones who “dig the long ball.” The yummies up on carpet corridor – make that Rob Manfred, commissioner of baseball – or as KDKA-TV sportscaster Sweet Old Bill Currie used to call Bowie Kuhn back in the before time, and without any affection, “The Grand Mogul of Baseball.” Manfred has floated an idea to lower the pitchers mound so the pitchers have less leverage when they throw and that namby pamby approach will generate more runs, especially more home runs, and that will excite the fans and bring them to the ballpark. Manfred and his predecessors have tampered enough with baseball. It was a great game just the way Abner Doubleday designed it.
Batters in the last decade or so have been taught to swing for the fences with a vicious uppercut that launch the baseball towards the outfield seats. In 2019 and 2020 there were more home runs hit per game in major league history. Now the pitchers have come up with a solution: high heat, in other words, a fast ball at the top of the strike zone. And home runs are down. Keep an eye out. Mighty Manfred the Wonder Commish will be plotting new ways to foul up the greatest game every played.
Speaking to reporters the next day, Craig said, “I’m going to end up on a blooper reel for the rest of my life.” Well, not to pick on # 38 any longer, but is another blooper featuring Pirates baseball, and this one is not a player’s fault. It’s the worst call by Jerry Meals, the worst umpire in the major leagues.
👉 Early risers in Venice were surprised yesterday to see a cruise ship nosing down the Giudecca canal for the first time since the start of the pandemic, despite repeated government pledges to reroute such huge vessels due to safety and environmental concerns. The 92,409-ton MSC Orchestra passed through the basin in front of St. Mark’s Canal around 6 a.m. under tugboat and port authority escort. Protests are amping up against the renewal of cruise traffic, just 2 ½ months after Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini, vowed a definitive stop to the passage of big ships through the heart of the city.
👉 Here are a couple of strips from Pearls Before Swine:
👉 In 1937 Walt Disney released his first full length animated feature, Snow White. It has been re-released over the years and has inspired many re-tellings including 2012’s Mirror, Mirror, starring Julia Roberts. And the most frequently quoted line from the original, which inspired the title for that Roberts production is, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all.” The trouble is, the Evil Queen, voiced by Lucille La Verne, in Disney’s film didn’t say that. She is so vain she needs constant support that she is still the most beautiful so she can kill any competition that arises. She ask, “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” And now you have the quote correct.
👉 Speaking of being vain, take a listen to Carly Simon’s signature song “You're So Vain.” It was widely believed that “You’re So Vain” was about actor Warren Beatty, who the singer dated in the early 1970s, but other names suggested have been Mick Jagger, her ex-husband James Taylor, David Bowie, and producer David Geffen. In 1972 she told People magazine that the song was partly about Beatty, especially the second verse. “Warren thinks the whole song is about him,” she said, but wouldn’t that perfectly prove the point.
👉 And two good messages before we close:
👉 Today’s close is by Phil Ware.
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).
Thoughts on today’s verse:
Why is it so hard to endure an unjust or unfair criticism? Why do we always have to defend ourselves no matter how ridiculous the charge? Often the problems we have with others simply escalate because we do not choose to forgive and let them go on in the Lord!
Prayer:
Precious and Holy God, help me more carefully guard my speech from things you despise, especially gossip, slander, and innuendo. Thank you. Through Jesus’ grace. Amen.
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