April 2009
58 posts
Man Accused of Using Ice Cream Truck to Sell Drugs →
March 2009
41 posts
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It's That Time of the Week Again. Time to...
TODAY’S PHOTOGRAPH comes to us via offbeatearth.com:
You know the drilllll…
Create-A-Caption Tuesday is when I, the URR writer, invite, you, the readers (last week proved that there are at least a few of you out there!), to hit the comments section with a vengeance and create a caption for an absurd, outrageous, amazing, or just plain sweeeet photograph. A winner will be...
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BMW Art Cars - A Photo Essay
FRANK STELLA (1976)
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG (1986)
ANDY WARHOL (1979)
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1977)
ROBIN RHODE (2009)
Photos by Jason Huff and Yours Truly (They’re MINE…So, Please Don’t Steal ‘Em!)
Read about Robin Rhode’s creation in this informative NY Times Blog post.
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WatchCheck out my first endeavor with iMovie (the soundtrack is my own Garage Band creation too)!
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“Four more exits to my apartment, but I am tempted to keep the car in drive and...”
– John Mayer (Room For Squares), 2001
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The Tesla Model S: Revealed At Last. But Don't...
Tesla Model S (via www.uncrate.com)
Fisker Karma (via www.automobilemag.com)
This week, Tesla unveiled its 4-door sedan, the Model S. The seven seat, electric plug-in that will boast killer features like a 17-inch infotainment touch-screen, retracting door handles, LED/neon headlight and tail lights, as well as some pretty stellar performance metrics like 0-60 in 5.6 seconds and a top...
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Acura TL Commercial: Some Stellar Advertising.
The Acura TL commercial shown below is a pretty sweet spectacle. This is an example of strong, smart marketing. The imagery of the bullet shooting through the bottle and coming out the other side an Acura is quite effective in conveying the stated message (obvious) about precision and power — two features most consumers seek in an automobile. But the ad’s efficacy is fortified by...
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Victory Friday Has Arrived
Well folks, the time has come to announce a winner for this week’s create-a-caption contest that began on Tuesday. There were a number of great submissions. Here are the results:
In Third Place is Paul: ”Carl… psst. Carl. Wake up. I don’t want to alarm you, but I think some humans are stealing our car. I thought I told you to use The Club while we were...
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Glorified Rickshaw?
Photos via Jalopnik
Text via YANKO DESIGN:
“Someone at Mercedes-Benz is either truly inspired or clearly suffering from dementia. What better way to showcase the future of hydrogen-electric fuel cell technology than with this stunning roadster concept. For nearly a year, 150 “trainees and dual education system students worked on the overall concept, development, assembly, and...
Hellllo Party People...
KEEP THE CAPTIONS COMING! One more day to post before the winner is announced!
Hit the link to add your caption!
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Stunner: A Look Back to the 1938 Geneva Auto Show
I mean this is one breathtaking family of vehicles. Read about these cars here. Mercedes 500 K Luxury Roadster via www.seriouswheels.com Mercedes 500 K Luxury Convertible via www.seriouswheels.com Mercedes 540 K Special Roadster via www.seriouswheels.com Text Below via: www.salon-auto.ch
The 1938 MERCEDES 540 K “Kompressor” Cabriolet B
“Launched as early...
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Stunt School? Yes, Please.
via www.nytimes.com
I’ve long wanted to attend a Skip Barber racing school, but the $2,000-$3,000 price-tag has thus far kept me away (someday I’ll be rich and successful, I know it). In the meantime, how about a clinic at the slightly cheaper, slightly less glamorous (slightly more outrageous) Extreme Stunt Driving School? James Schembari’s article in yesterday’s New...
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No Cash? No Problem? You Might Want to Think...
via: NYPOST.com
Somehow this story slipped under my radar, but, back in January, a woman on her way to a flight out of JFK, had the unthinkable happen before she boarded her flight…her iPod was confiscated by airport security. An airplane ride with no music?! I don’t know if I could deal. (That was a joke, sort of).
With no cash, 20-year-old Natalie Lenhart of Sacramento, CA was...
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Introducing...Create-A-Caption Tuesdays!
TODAY’S PHOTOGRAPH comes to us from www.worldrider.com:
Create-A-Caption Tuesday is when I, the URR writer, invite, you, the readers (there have to be a few of you out there!), to hit the comments section with a vengeance and create a caption for an absurd, outrageous, amazing, or just plain sweeeet photograph. A winner will be announced on Friday. And since we all know how much winning...
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“I like where we are when we drive in your car. I like where we are, here.”
– HelloGoodbye (Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!), 2006
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It's a Rocky Road in Detroit Rock City
Photo by Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times
Fascinating piece from this morning’s New York Times: At Auto Engineers’ School, a Course in Layoffs 101
“For much of the last 90 years, Kettering University honed its reputation as the West Point of the automobile industry, offering valuable work experience for its students at car companies and parts suppliers, and then virtually...
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The 2009 Volkswagen CC
A “Car for the People” (With High-End Tastes but Not-So-High Incomes)
The Volkswagen CC (via: www.theautochannel.com)
Though my opinion is not shared by all (I know this because I have met with dissent on the matter more times than I can count), I happen to think that the Mercedes CLS class is the the most attractive of the luxury-market four-door sedans. Part of this is owed to...
1949 Chevy Pickup
via www.ebaymotors.com
I’ve always wanted one of these…ever since Mr. Miyagi gifted a classic pickup to Daniel in the Karate Kid. The one pictured above is available for sale on eBay for $6,100 (right now - 3/21/09, 1:59pm). Is that what they go for? Does anyone know?
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Nice Wheels, Matty
Matthew McConaughey (via www.gawker.com, courtesy of Splash)
Kick scooters, once the play-toys of the sub-13 set, have become a popular mode of transport for city-dwelling corporate types (bizarre as that may seem). Last night, I spotted a middle-aged woman in a trench, stockings and sneakers traveling across 67th Street via Razor. Could Matthew McConaughey’s skateboard and makeshift...
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Bump, Set, SPYKE.
2006 Spyker C8 Spyder (via www.motorcities.com)
The Spyker. Let’s just take a moment to ogle. Oooooh. Aaaaah. The progeny of gracefulness and athleticism, the Spyker (pictured above is the 2006 Spyker C8 Spyder) is German in body and Dutch in spirit. What does that mean? Dutch design, Audi engine. This proves to be a winning combination as the Spyker’s unusual lines and...
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California Dreaming.
Bat Mobile Dragster, 1966 (via www.autoblog.com)
Imagine…you roll up to the car wash and you see THIS, a 1966 Bat Mobile Dragster. Such is the life of the autoblog.com writers who live in Southern California. Here’s some intel on the vehicle that appeared in the Batman television series starring Adam West and featuring one of my favorite television theme songs: the Bat Mobile was...
Cool (well, Cold), But Not So Awesome Art.
The latest BMW art car was commissioned in 2007 from Olafur Eliasson, creator of (among other things) the lackluster New York City Waterfalls project that ran last summer. Eliasson’s take on the BMW project, BMW Art Car Project: Your Mobile Expectations, is based on the BMW H2R, a race car designed to run on liquid hydrogen, and is largely political. The design, a fascinating but extremely...
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BMW Art Cars to Pull into Grand Central
The morning commute is about to improve tenfold…These Canvases Need Oil and a Good Driver (New York Times, 03.12.09).
Completely unbeknownst to me when I posted about the BMW art cars last month, an upcoming show at Grand Central Terminal in New York City will feature four of the auto-canvases from March 25th to April 6th. This. Is. Awesome. Look for a review of the show in the next few...
German Duel
BMW ALPINA B7 vs. Mercedes S63 AMG on AskMen.com — Great article…check it
2010 BMW ALPINA B7 in Car and Driver — The review from the Geneva Auto Show
2009 Mercedes S63 AMG in Automobile Magazine — Early insights from the first month of the current year.
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"C" is for Competizione
Alfa Romeo Competizione (via www.motortrend.com)
Now THAT’s a good looking car…
What is it? It’s the beautiful new coupe that is poised to carry the Alfa Romeo brand back to the US by the power of its 450-hp 4.7-liter V8 (Ferrari-based) engine. Six years after appearing in concept form at the Frankfurt Auto Show, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is road ready. The exterior...
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Stunt Double: Faux Ferraris are Big Business
Did you know that it’s possible to make a Toytoa MR2 (pictured above - bottom) look like Ferrari 360 Spider (pictured above - top)? Did you know that a Pontiac Fiero can be morphed into a Ferrari F355? Evidently there is a pretty widespread counterfeit Ferrari culture; and the knock-offs are convincing.
Just last year, Italian police busted a network of auto-body shops throughout...
Manhattan No Longer an Ant Hill for Town Cars
Town Cars (via yellowcabnyc.com)
Mr. Big is practically synonymous with the site of a black Town Car. Presumably Mr. Big’s character on Sex and the City was meant to symbolize a number of things: masculinity, Manhattan, and the backdrop of Finance that is generally part and parcel of the first two. If this is the case, then the ubiquitous Black Car is a pretty powerful symbol of both...
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The Obs(urd)idian SG One Mustang
Unreal to gaze upon. And wait until you see the sick interior…
The $1.3 million price tag is a little outrageous, but then again so is 0-60 in 3 seconds. Read more here: http://www.uncrate.com/men/cars/sports-cars/obsidian-sgone-mustang/
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“She don’t believe in shooting stars, but she believe in shoes and cars.”
– Kanye West (Graduation), 2007
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Seriously...?
You’re wondering, “what are those ridiculous looking things that resemble iMacs of the late 1990s?” Glad you asked…they’re eco-friendly concept cars designed by Daniel Scotland for French car company, Peugeot. Powered by a single lithium battery and maneuvered by joystick, the two-wheeler egg car is envisioned as the future of urban transport. I don’t know...
Chevrolet Camaro to pace this year's Indy 500 →
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WatchOH. MY. GOODNESS. These two clips are incredible. Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson is exceptionally good at making the most outrageous cars accessible. I enjoy Clarkson’s humor and (obviously) I envy his job immensely. These videos from a 2002 episode of BBC’s Top Gear feature Aston Martin V-12 Vanquish and the Ferrari 575. Watch the clips. Excite your senses.
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Volvo: Made in China?
Rumor has it that Geely, the Chinese car company famous for being the first independent car manufacturer in the People’s Republic of China (the company just began exporting cars in 2003), is going to make a bid for Volvo in the near future. If this happens and a deal goes through, it will be another major step in the rapid globalization of the automotive industry (last year Jaguar and...
One Last Back to the Future Related Item... →
In researching my earlier post (BACK TO THE FUTURE PART DEUX), I stumbled upon this. In “Back to the Future: Hill Valley”, a downloadable modification for the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game, you can fly a Delorean and re-enact scenes from the movie. This is the ultimate in nerdiness, but is nevertheless pretty awesome.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Part Deux
When Back to the Future: Part II came out in November 1989, I had just entered Kindergarten, Chicago’s Look Away was the number one song on the Billboard charts, and the Reebok Pump had just been launched.
In keeping with the Back to the Future theme I have going (unintentional, but a happy accident), I happened upon THIS the other day (thanks to my scouting friend, AD)....