Red Barchetta: “A Nice Morning Drive”

1948_ferrari_166_mm_barchetta1Knowing there are a few folks in our course who enjoy various car cultures, I wanted to post one of my favorite short stories, “A Nice Morning Drive.” Printed in an issue of Road & Track, it was the inspiration for one of my all-time favorite songs; “Red Barchetta.”

If you are unfamiliar with the song, read the story first, then watch the video. Enjoy!

A Nice Morning Drive
by Richard S. Foster
Road and Track Nov,1973 pp.148-150

It was a fine morning in March 1982. The warm weather and clear sky gave promise of an early spring. Buzz had arisen early that morning, impatiently eaten breakfast and .gone to the garage. Opening the door, he saw the sunshine bounce off the gleaming hood of his I5-year-old MGB roadster. After carefully checking the fluid levels, tire pressures and ignition wires, Buzz slid behind the wheel and cranked the engine, which immediately fired to life. He thought happily of the next few hours he would spend with the car, but his happiness was clouded – it was not as easy as it used to be.

A dozen years ago things had begun changing. First there were a few modest safety and emission improvements required on new cars; gradually these became more comprehensive. The governmental requirements reached an adequate level, but they didn’t stop; they continued and became more and more stringent. Now there were very few of the older models left, through natural deterioration and . . . other reasons.

The MG was warmed up now and Buzz left the garage, hoping that this early in the morning there would be no trouble. He kept an eye on the instruments as he made his way down into the valley. The valley roads were no longer used very much: the small farms were all owned by doctors and the roads were somewhat narrow for the MSVs (Modern Safety Vehicles).

The safety crusade had been well done at first. The few harebrained schemes were quickly ruled out and a sense of rationality developed. But in the late Seventies, with no major wars, cancer cured and social welfare straightened out. the politicians needed a new cause and once again they turned toward the automobile. The regulations concerning safety became tougher. Cars became larger, heavier, less efficient. They consumed gasoline so voraciously that the United States had had to become a major ally with the Arabian countries. The new cars were hard to stop or maneuver quickly. but they would save your life (usually) in a 5O-mph crash. With 200 million cars on the road, however, few people ever drove that fast anymore.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Buzz zipped quickly to the valley floor, dodging the frequent potholes which had developed from neglect of the seldom-used roads. The engine sounded spot-on and the entire car had a tight, good feeling about it. He negotiated several quick S-curves and reached 6000 in third gear before backing off for the next turn. He didn’t worry about the police down here. No, not the cops . . .

Despite the extent of the safety program. it was essentially a good idea. But unforeseen complications had arisen. People became accustomed to cars which went undamaged in lO-mph collisions. They gave even less thought than before to the possibility of being injured in a crash. As a result, they tended to worry less about clearances and rights-of-way, so that the accident rate went up a steady six percent every year. But the damages and injuries actually decreased, so the government was happy, the insurance industry was happy and most of the car owners were happy. Most of the car ownersi-the owners of the non-MSV cars were kept busy dodging the less careful MSV drivers, and the result of this mismatch left very few of the older cars in existence. If they weren’t crushed between two 6000-pound sleds on the highway they were quietly priced into the junkyard by the insurance peddlers. And worst of all, they became targets . . .

Buzz was well into his act now, speeding through the twisting valley roads with all the skill he could muster, to the extent that he had forgotten his earlier worries. Where the road was unbroken he would power around the turns in well controlled oversteer, and where the sections were potholed he saw them as devious chicanes to be mastered. He left the ground briefly going over one of the old wooden bridges and later ascertained that the MG would still hit 110 on the long stretch between the old Hanlin and Grove farms. He was just beginning to wind down when he saw it, there in his mirror, a late-model MSV with hand-painted designs covering most of its body (one of the few modifications allowed on post-1980 cars). Buzz hoped it was a tourist or a wayward driver who got lost looking for a gas station. But now the MSV driver had spotted the MG, and with a whoosh of a well muffled, well cleansed exhaust he started the chase . . .

Click here to view the embedded video.

It hadn’t taken long for the less responsible element among drivers to discover that their new MSVs could inflict great damage on an older car and go unscathed themselves. As a result some drivers would go looking for the older cars in secluded areas, bounce them off the road or into a bridge abutment, and then speed off undamaged, relieved of whatever frustrations cause this kind of behavior. Police seldom patrolled these out-of-the-way places, their attentions being required more urgently elsewhere, and so it became a great sport for some drivers.

Buzz wasn’t too worried yet. This had happened a few times before, and unless the MSV driver was an exceptionally good one, the MG could be called upon to elude the other driver without too much difficulty. Yet something bothered him about this gaudy MSV in his mirror, but what was it? Planning carefully, Buzz let the other driver catch up to within a dozen yards or so, and then suddenly shot off down a road to the right. The MSV driver stood on his brakes, skidding 400 feet down the road, made a lumbering U-turn and set off once again after the roadster. The MG had gained a quarter mile in this manner and Buzz was thankful for the radial tires and front and rear anti-roll bars he had put on the car a few years back. He was flying along the twisting road, downshifting, cornering, accelerating and all the while planning his route ahead. He was confident that if he couldn’t outrun the MSV then he could at least hold it off for another hour or more, at which time the MSV would be quite low on gas. But what was it that kept bothering him about the other car?

Click here to view the embedded video.

They reached a straight section of the road and Buzz opened it up all the way and held it. The MSV was quite a way back but not so far that Buzz couldn’t distinguish the tall antenna standing up from the back bumper. Antenna! Not police, but perhaps a Citizen’s Band radio in the MSV? He quaked slightly and hoped it was not. The straight stretch was coming to an end now and Buzz put off braking to the last fraction of a second and then sped through a 75-mph right-hander, gaining ten more yards on the MSV. But less than a quarter mile ahead another huge MSV was slowly pulling across the road and to a stop. It was a CB set. The other driver had a cohort in the chase. Now Buzz was in trouble. He stayed on the gas until within a few hundred feet when he banked hard and feinted passing to the left. The MSV crawled in that direction and Buzz slipped by on the right. bouncing heavily over a stone on the shoulder. The two MSVs set off in hot pursuit, almost colliding in the process. Buzz turned right at the first crossroad and then made a quick left, hoping to be out of sight of his pursuers, and in fact he traveled several minutes before spotting one of them on the main road parallel to his lane. At the same time the other appeared in the mirror from around the last comer. By now they were beginning to climb the hills on the far side of the valley and Buzz pressed on for all he was worth, praying that the straining engine would stand up. He lost track of one MSV when the main road turned away, but could see the other one behind him on occasion.

Climbing the old Monument Road, Buzz hoped to have time to get over the top and down the old dirt road to the right, which would be too narrow for his pursuers. Climbing, straining, the water temperature rising, using the entire road, flailing the shift lever back and forth from 3rd to 4th, not touching the brakes but scrubbing off the necessary speed in the corners, reaching the peak of the mountain where the lane to the old fire tower went off to the left . . . but coming up the other side of the hill was the second MSV he had lost track of! No time to get to his dirt road. He made a panicked turn left onto the fire tower road but spun on some loose gravel and struck a tree a glancing blow with his right fender. He came to a stop on the opposite side of the road. the engine stalled. Hurriedly he pushed the starter while the overheated engine slowly came back into life. He engaged 1st gear and sped off up the road, just as the first MSV turned the corner. Dazed though he was, Buzz had the advantage of a very narrow road lined on both sides with trees, and he made the most of it. The road twisted constantly and he stayed in 2nd with the engine between 5000 and 5500. The crash hadn’t seemed to hurt anything and he was pulling away from the MSV. But to where? It hit him suddenly that the road dead-ended at the fire tower, no place to go but back . . .

Still he pushed on and at the top of the hill drove quickly to the far end of the clearing, turned the MG around and waited. The first MSV came flying into the clearing and aimed itself at the sitting MG. Buzz grabbed reverse gear, backed up slightly to feint, stopped, and then backed up at full speed. The MSV, expecting the MG to change direction, veered the wrong way and slid to a stop up against a tree. Buzz was off again, down the fire tower road, and the undamaged MSV set off in pursuit. Buzz’s predicament was unenviable. He was going full tilt down the twisting blacktop with a solid MSV coming up at him. and an equally solid MSV coming down after him. On he went, however, braking hard before each turn and then accelerating back up to 45 in between. Coming down to a particularly tight turn, he saw the MSV coming around it from the other direction and stood on the brakes. The sudden extreme pressure in the brake lines was too much for the rear brake line which had been twisted somewhat in his spin, and it broke. robbing Buzz of his brakes. In sheer desperation he pulled the handbrake as tightly as it would go and rammed the gear lever into 1st, popping the clutch as he did so. The back end locked solid and broke away, spinning him off the side of the road and miraculously into some bushes, which brought the car to a halt. As he was collecting his senses, Buzz saw the two MSVs, unable to stop in time, ram each other head on at over 40 mph.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was a long time before Buzz had the MG rebuilt to its original pristine condition of before the chase. It was an even longer time before he went back into the valley for a drive. Now it was only in the very early hours of the day when most people were still sleeping off the effects of the good life. And when he saw in the papers that the government would soon be requiring cars to be capable of withstanding 75-mph headon collisions, he stopped driving the MG altogether.

(The text above was found HERE) 

This post isn’t too far off from my blog theme of music; music and cars are synonymous just as music and motorcycles– but thats a topic for an upcoming post.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

“Pop-osition” Blog; Bruce Lee in Kato

Pop-osition (Group 3): BRUCE LEE REPRESENTED A CHARACTER AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND REPRESENTING CHINESE CITIZENS, INCITING OTHERS TO TAKE ACTION

Bruce Lee was, and arguably still is today, a phenomenon because he broke stereotypes, and brought something completely new to the table. How did Bruce break these stereotypes? He did this by refusing to play stereotypical roles, accepting roles that were a metaphor for being against Japanese imperialism in China, being in control over fight scenes and weapons used in films, and applying his own personal philosophy to his acting roles/characters.

Roles against Japanese imperialism in China: Special emphasis on Fist of Fury- represents anti-imperialism, and The Way of the Dragon- represents contemporary Asia under Japanese and American neo-imperial hegemony, and kung fu revolution.

“The triangular image complex- bu, judo, and katana deployed in Fist of Fury thus captures the fundamental aspects of the culture of Japanese imperialism with sobering accuracy from the viewpoint of Chinese and Asian people in general” p. 38

Control over fight scenes and weapons used in films:

“Consistent with his pedagogic activities in the field of martial arts, Lee also demonstrated various forms of kung fu from diverse schools, such as Praying Mantis and White Crane, on the screen. His demonstration also included what appeared to be quite eccentric movements to unfamiliar eyes, the theatrical movements of the warrior and scholar figures of the Cantonese opera” p.  9-10.

Katana vs. nunchaku in Fist of Fury. Lee chose to use the nunchaku weapon in the film Fist of Fury.

“According to Linda Lee, Bruce Lee had done research on various weapons for his choreography: “His library contained many books about weapons, both ancient and modern, Oriental and Western, and he saw the nunchaku as historically justified….” In persing history of nunchaku, one would ineluctably come into contact with the history of Okinawa, or Ryuku.  Two aspects of the history of Ryuku have particular elevance to the formation of its martial arts, tou-di, and to the development of nunchaku as a weapon of self-defense. One is the history of cultural exchange between China and Okinawa, fostered through their tributary relationship, and the other is their shared history of colonial conquest by Japan.” p. 41-42

Personal philosophy:

“The pursuit of freedom in action—expressed through the mind and body in their totality- thus became the paramount agenda of Lee’s artistic expression” p. 49

“…Lee’s philosophical system, which views combative art as a means to realize selfhood.  The ultimate combat, therefore, is with one’s ego or institutionalized selfhood” p. 58

“…Watch, but don’t stop and interpret, “I am free” then you’re living in a memory of something that has gone. To understand and live now, everything of yesterday must die” p. 60

 

 

 

Week 6, Tuesday. Pop-ositions and Kato readings, Chpts 1&2.

Poposition:  The use of vernacular in pop culture by means globalization by turning certain words into buzz words,.  Examples; merci, voila, skosh/sukoshi, sayonara, and various tattoos (such as kanji on those who do not know kanji).

I’m choosing this one of our our four pop-ositions because it was influenced by a chapter I wrote a previous blog entry on, so instead of focusing on that again I chose to focus on the vernacular of this book and how the book takes the subject of pop culture (which some might argue as lacking substance) and place it into the academic realm (which has a high level of importance placed onto it).

First,  the language of this book, as discussed in class, is heavy with culture theory words. Occasionally, some of these words are turned around  be seen as negative or condescending. For instance, how “privilege” has become a word around Evergreen that some use to make fun of how “PC” people are. On the other side of this, however, is that the book’s “vernacular” in other realms, such as blogs, creates a barrier between those who are only venturing into the blog to “troll” (internet language) and who will be deterred by the language. Of course, this backfires, as it also lowers its accessibility to those could highly benefit from the material. This somewhat mirrors the way that vernacular among people of color also keeps them safe because it allows them a voice that is their own an which creates barriers that keep others out. However, as mentioned in the proposition, those words can be caught ono as a catch phrases or buzz words and then appropriated or misused.

A common theme throughout the first 2 chapters of Kato’s From Kung Fu to Hip Hop was the wide-spread student riots that were taking place, something that combined both youth culture vernacular and academic speak. This sort of cross between cultures allowed students to speak for the families and cultures they were from (such as the Chican@ movement or the Black Power movement) while creating a new vernacular that was deemed “safe” because it was within the “intelligent” community. It also created a bridge; if you’re coming from one side, the bridge becomes accessibility by using vernacular into political academia while the other side leads into representation of themselves. To have a pop culture representative was another way in which youth and entertainment culture merged with activism in a way that was accessible (and subconscious through representation) an another instance as to why Lee was so beneficial to the social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.

 

– “Pop-osition” from Kato

In my group, we concluded the pop-osition from Kato that “the Kung Fu cultural revolution ignited transnational resistance against Japanese cultural imperialism.”

Before I read this book, I didn’t care the difference between Kung Fu and karate. However, reading this passage; “The base of tou-di was formed through the cultural exchange between China and Okinawa, since they entered a tributary relationship in the fourteenth century” (Kato, p20), I knew that karate was from Kung Fu originally. Although now they are recognized as different kinds, they used to be from the same. I suppose that because of globalization, Kung Fu became to know as karate in Japan and then they became one of popular cultures in the world. So, in my opinion, the relationship between globalization and popular culture is ordinary relationship. In this book, the author said that there was resistance between Japan and China as karate became popular in China. Because of globalization, popular culture would exist all over the world. It’s sad that popular cultures from globalization like Kung Fu and karate won’t always bring happiness, but I’m sure that these popular cultures’ problem are be able to resolve with researching their connections and backgrounds.

“My Gender Is For Mothers” – Nicole Masangkay

Click here to view the embedded video.

“My Gender Is for Mothers”

(My gender is for mothers)

My mother refuses my gender in 2 different languages
I cannot comprehend the weight of both
So when I first tell you, “I love you”
It will be the first time I can tell someone in a way that is understood

My mother was born in a U.S. Naval base in the Philippines
She has grown up with
Old bruises,
Little wars and defeats that cannot be drowned across oceans,
I understand that to survive
She cannot keep losing
So everyday, I let my mother refuse my beauty in
Two different languages
And I understand both

So when you lay beside me and whisper,
“You are beautiful”
Letting my brown skin blend into the cradle of your arm around me
And the shoreline of my waist washes into the fit of your other palm
My sobs will soak your forearm salty with my shame
How dare I give you this
And take myself away from my own mother
She gave me everything
She has burned so much of what she was meant to become
Trying to keep me safe

So when I learn of bruises from your past lover
That stay clinging to the places I will catch you
Sometimes with my hands
Open and gentle
When the world wants my body to only learn fists
And for yours to apologize for
Long hair and thick hips
My masculinity is for unlearning
All of the violence taught to my gender
I will honor the women whom we are taught are
“Too difficult” to love

This masculinity is for my mother
And she doesn’t even know
Between you and her
I am choosing whose heart to break

“With the body I have”
And the gender she thinks I don’t
My short hair and contradicting breasts
I just want to be good
I just want to be good
I wanna tell her that on the days I feel like my body will never let me
Sometimes I wanna give myself back to her

So when you tell me that you love me,
Remind me that the best thing that anyone’s ever said to me was that
I am “whom every mother would want their daughter to date”

When you remember that
This world was built against this gender on this body
And that the odds are against love and safety
I will trace the big dipper onto the soft canvas of your back
Watch constellations wrinkle gravity at the brimming outstretch of your smile
Catch curves folding under covers with my earthbound hands
And crumple the sky’s hemline to custom-fit your palms
When this world will not fit our safety
I will give you the universe with my fingertips
And the most gentle bends of my body

This is all I have to give
When gender is imperfect
When I wish they would let us love perfect
I will love you with all my gender

Bio – Nicole Masangkay is a genderqueer, Filipin@ American poet and student organizer, currently in Seattle

Pop-ositions (Group 3)

Chapter 1 – Trance-Formations: Orientalism and Cosmopolitanism in Youth Culture

-Party, rave scenes, “Goa Trance”
+Dressed in “Asian” clothing (i.e. Chinese dresses with symbols)
+Super tribal vibe via “Hindu gods” and symbols
+Culture turned to club culture, removing culture significance
+Trying to make a culture seperate from America
-White youths believe “Goa Trance” a product of India1
POP CULTURE IS A TOOL OF HEGEMONY

Chapter 2 – Making Transnational Vietnamese Music: Sounds of Home and Resistance

-Viet Keiu were Vietnamese Americans who sang about their home, against Communism though
+Members visited home to sing at homeland
-Music reminded listeners, mostly those of Vietnamese descent, of their home and culture, lost during the Vietnam Conflict
-Music that was deemed “sad” was censored by North Vietnam’s government
+Anti-Communist rallies prevented Vietnamese singers from performing
MUSIC ACTS AS A REMINDER OF THE PAST AND CULTURE AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO UNIFY, DESPITE OPPOSITIONS

Chapter 5 – “Pappy’s House”: “Pop” Culture and the Revaluation of a Filipino American “Sixty-Cents” in Guam

-Connected linguistically
-”Pappy” and “Mammy” change depending on location and conditions
+Good at some places, derogatory in others
TERMS DIFFER IN CONTEXT IN REGARDS TO PERCEPTION, LOCATION, AND CONDITIONS

Kato Reading

-Bruce Lee and martial arts connectivity to his life
+Imagery of Japanese Neo-Imperialism
-Bruce Lee used stardom to break stereotypes
+Emit a strong anti-Japanese message-Media used to say karate to katanas derived from Japan, even though there is Chinese roots
BRUCE LEE REPRESENTED A CHARACTER AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND REPRESENTING CHINESE CITIZENS, INCITING OTHERS TO TAKE ACTION