Of course, the details that shape a road trip are missing from a video like this. I would (will) document 1/48/50 differently (I'm way too much of a blowhard to keep quiet through six hours of video). But nevertheless, take a few minutes to watch some of it, and you'll find it's not only fairly mesmerizing, but I think it encapsulates visually what people love about driving. Without description, without sound, it makes me want to be the person behind the wheel in the worst way.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Friday, February 16, 2018
Where the rubber meets the windshield...
When I'm out and about on the highways and byways of our great land, I'm always watching for drunk drivers, aggressive drivers, texting drivers, lead foots, left laners and not-leery-enough deer. Never occurs to me to (have to) watch for this...
😟😮😬
But it brings up a thought about long road trips. It stands to reason that the more miles you drive, the more likely it becomes that something like this may eventually happen. Doesn't it...?
Of course, that's not in any way, shape, form, or fashion a reason not to drive anywhere any chance you get...just sayin', this is kind of crazy.
2024 Update: I'm not sure, I think it was video of a rolling tire crashing with terrifying abruptness into a windshield on the highway.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50
#293) "The Lucky One" by Alison Krauss and Union Station - My oh my, what Midwestern white boy with any poetic sensibilities whatsoever hasn't wished he was, or strove to imagine himself, or tried desperately to be, the guy in this song, the "lucky one"...who comes and goes as he pleases, with "not a care in the world, not a worry in sight", always smiling, friendly with everyone, friends with no one, the complete and total player, but not so much that you hate him for it.
I did, anyway...spent a lot of time in high school dreaming of drifting around, making my goodbyes as dramatic and satisfying as my hellos. I became a father at seventeen, however, so those years in my twenties that might otherwise have allowed for - and been devoted to - a carefully crafted and picture perfect indifference to the petty hassles, leaden realities and inconvenient truths of personal relationships and life in general, were influenced greatly by what ended up a quick and seismic shift in my priorities. There was plenty of "worry in sight" by the time I graduated high school...the myriad concerns of parenthood, bills that could not be paid, bills that had to be paid, etc.
Not that I feel I missed out on too much. First of all, I've had my moments. If I drop tomorrow, I won't be able to say I feel I've been cheated out of anything (other than perhaps more time). And secondly, like so many other songs, "The Lucky One", a radio hit for Krauss in 2001, idealizes something that in reality is fraught with the same complexity and unpredictability of human emotion as any other situation we find ourselves in as life goes on. Nobody just drifts around, free as a bird, contentedly keeping everyone at arm's length. Resentment, possessiveness and competitiveness, loneliness, desire and regret...they all rear their ugly heads at some point, sometimes all at once. Not to mention you have to work, make money, maintain a certain stabilization...unless you just live off the grid, which though the concept has always intrigued me, I've never seriously thought about. And to be honest, no woman I have ever known has (or would have) been so philosophical, and so plaintively chill, about "the lucky one" drifting in and out of her life as Krauss would have us believe she is here. The song is pretty, as are Krauss's vocals (as always), but it's all a bit too tepid, actually, for what's purported to be going on. ;-)
"For you, the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing..."
#294) "Oh Atlanta" by Alison Krauss and Union Station - "Oh Atlanta" is, to me, the perfect driving song. It doesn't mean anything in particular, evokes no memories, stirrings or impulses, it's just great to listen to. Even better if you're on the road with many miles to go. Interestingly, Krauss' voice doesn't sound right for the song, and yet she makes it work.
If nothing else, I'm a Braves fan, so yeah, oh Atlanta, indeed.
"Oh Atlanta, I hear you callin' / I'm coming back to you one fine day..."
I did, anyway...spent a lot of time in high school dreaming of drifting around, making my goodbyes as dramatic and satisfying as my hellos. I became a father at seventeen, however, so those years in my twenties that might otherwise have allowed for - and been devoted to - a carefully crafted and picture perfect indifference to the petty hassles, leaden realities and inconvenient truths of personal relationships and life in general, were influenced greatly by what ended up a quick and seismic shift in my priorities. There was plenty of "worry in sight" by the time I graduated high school...the myriad concerns of parenthood, bills that could not be paid, bills that had to be paid, etc.
Not that I feel I missed out on too much. First of all, I've had my moments. If I drop tomorrow, I won't be able to say I feel I've been cheated out of anything (other than perhaps more time). And secondly, like so many other songs, "The Lucky One", a radio hit for Krauss in 2001, idealizes something that in reality is fraught with the same complexity and unpredictability of human emotion as any other situation we find ourselves in as life goes on. Nobody just drifts around, free as a bird, contentedly keeping everyone at arm's length. Resentment, possessiveness and competitiveness, loneliness, desire and regret...they all rear their ugly heads at some point, sometimes all at once. Not to mention you have to work, make money, maintain a certain stabilization...unless you just live off the grid, which though the concept has always intrigued me, I've never seriously thought about. And to be honest, no woman I have ever known has (or would have) been so philosophical, and so plaintively chill, about "the lucky one" drifting in and out of her life as Krauss would have us believe she is here. The song is pretty, as are Krauss's vocals (as always), but it's all a bit too tepid, actually, for what's purported to be going on. ;-)
"For you, the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing..."
#294) "Oh Atlanta" by Alison Krauss and Union Station - "Oh Atlanta" is, to me, the perfect driving song. It doesn't mean anything in particular, evokes no memories, stirrings or impulses, it's just great to listen to. Even better if you're on the road with many miles to go. Interestingly, Krauss' voice doesn't sound right for the song, and yet she makes it work.
If nothing else, I'm a Braves fan, so yeah, oh Atlanta, indeed.
"Oh Atlanta, I hear you callin' / I'm coming back to you one fine day..."
Friday, February 2, 2018
Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50
#292) "Faithfully" by Journey - This is definitely a song I didn't appreciate growing up. I never disliked it, but never really noticed it either. (Heard it, but didn't listen, if you will.) It was just another flick-your-lighter-and-wave-it-back-and-forth stadium anthem populating the airwaves around the time I was in Little League and my brother got his driver's license. Later, for a short while, it was the "Oh Sherrie" guy's other song...because Journey never really made an impression on me either, although I do remember playing the Journey video game on my Atari 2600 (where the groupies were giant hearts with legs...lol), just didn't really know who the band was.
I think it's safe to say "Faithfully" has taken its place among the greatest power ballads ever, but it's also proven to be like good wine. Time passes, and in the new burgeoning historical context of songs that once were just radio friendly hits, it ripens, deepens and opens up. There's a richness to it that has claimed real estate in my mind beyond just a power ballad. Elegant and eloquent, at times musically stunning, it speaks to everyone's longing and devotion, for whatever or whomever, that must bear the onslaught of not just physical distance, but years becoming decades, decades becoming a lifetime.
"Through space and time..." indeed.
"Two strangers learn to fall in love again / I get the joy of rediscovering you..."
#293) "Long, Long Time" by Linda Ronstadt - I like the song too, one of those early 70s ditties that drizzled out of my parents radio in their bookstore when I was four, but it's really all about the voice. Here you have a lovely woman singing a lovely song with a perfectly blended command of control, pitch and power. Ronstadt's voice was an instrument, as opposed to a weapon, which is an approach too many otherwise talented female singers get distracted by these days - the need to bellow and explode. Ronstadt just sang. Pitch perfect.
"And I think it's gonna hurt me for a long, long time..."
I think it's safe to say "Faithfully" has taken its place among the greatest power ballads ever, but it's also proven to be like good wine. Time passes, and in the new burgeoning historical context of songs that once were just radio friendly hits, it ripens, deepens and opens up. There's a richness to it that has claimed real estate in my mind beyond just a power ballad. Elegant and eloquent, at times musically stunning, it speaks to everyone's longing and devotion, for whatever or whomever, that must bear the onslaught of not just physical distance, but years becoming decades, decades becoming a lifetime.
"Through space and time..." indeed.
"Two strangers learn to fall in love again / I get the joy of rediscovering you..."
#293) "Long, Long Time" by Linda Ronstadt - I like the song too, one of those early 70s ditties that drizzled out of my parents radio in their bookstore when I was four, but it's really all about the voice. Here you have a lovely woman singing a lovely song with a perfectly blended command of control, pitch and power. Ronstadt's voice was an instrument, as opposed to a weapon, which is an approach too many otherwise talented female singers get distracted by these days - the need to bellow and explode. Ronstadt just sang. Pitch perfect.
"And I think it's gonna hurt me for a long, long time..."
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