Yup the girl above was out in barely nothing in Edinburgh, in January.
The women here are wrapped in fur and seal and blubber and whatever else it takes to keep the cold out. They may get laid less often but when the do they can, at least, feel their extremities.
Drove a pre-production car today (can't say which as I'll be lynched) and had much fun taking it and the 6 people in it towards banked curves at very high speed. I then saw a couple of good ideas on how to launch the vehicle. Marvelous.
New York coming up - but before that, the Dirty Show in Detroit - provided Jude's dinner thing finishes early enough
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Boing!
So the weather has been filthy. Snow has been heaped upon ice has been heaped upon snow. The gritters have been out and the whole state is saltier than a peanut eating seadog.
Which means that the roads beneath the salty slurry are being eaten. And crumbling. Into small pieces which are then thrown up into the air by large trucks and hurtled with alarming velocity toward you as you drive.
So far I've had a small chunk taken out of the windshield and a deep chunk taken out of the paintwork on the 'hood'. Luckily the windshield managed to hold up and the dealer came through with a small pot of touch up paint that I'm hoping will help fill the small, white crater on my otherwise pristine car.
Anthony (a guy at work) tells me that he's had 5 windscreens in 4 years - all broken on the same stretch of road.
Oh for the spring.
Which means that the roads beneath the salty slurry are being eaten. And crumbling. Into small pieces which are then thrown up into the air by large trucks and hurtled with alarming velocity toward you as you drive.
So far I've had a small chunk taken out of the windshield and a deep chunk taken out of the paintwork on the 'hood'. Luckily the windshield managed to hold up and the dealer came through with a small pot of touch up paint that I'm hoping will help fill the small, white crater on my otherwise pristine car.
Anthony (a guy at work) tells me that he's had 5 windscreens in 4 years - all broken on the same stretch of road.
Oh for the spring.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Brrrrr (Still)
So this morning I set off in the -20c conditions towards work - wondering just why it was that people lived here. And then I realized "I live here". And wondered what other reasons people have for being here.
Of course I'm told that winter in Michigan is a little like giving birth - in that it's painful enough for your mind to wipe out the memory of the agony (this time at the first hint of warmth) in a bid to have you endure another.
Or maybe not.
Anyway Jude got back from Belgium today and headed almost directly to bed,,, passing go only for beer and veggie chips. I'm at a bit of a loss but just blew $500.13 on a ticket to NYC to see a family member (and check in at the hospital)... wasteful but what the hell?
Okay - typing making too much noise and have sleepy headed wife to think about. More tomorrow.
Of course I'm told that winter in Michigan is a little like giving birth - in that it's painful enough for your mind to wipe out the memory of the agony (this time at the first hint of warmth) in a bid to have you endure another.
Or maybe not.
Anyway Jude got back from Belgium today and headed almost directly to bed,,, passing go only for beer and veggie chips. I'm at a bit of a loss but just blew $500.13 on a ticket to NYC to see a family member (and check in at the hospital)... wasteful but what the hell?
Okay - typing making too much noise and have sleepy headed wife to think about. More tomorrow.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
A smile on my face
So as Ann Arbor slowly morphs into a grayer and more desolate version of hell, with the winds howling like injured wolves thrown fresh meat and the roads covered in swirls of ever moving snow, moving in slow motion patterns of spellbinding beauty I decide to venture outside. You see I have given in. I am going to Target.
There is a reason for this surrender. The pale Californian who seems immune to our impatience (our photography teacher) has asked that next week we all bring in two 8*10 pics for a critique class. I've looked through my Flickr pics and despaired that it's been months since I took a good pic. Then that it's been months since I've dared take a camera outside for fear of it shattering like fruit in liquid nitrogen.
But I've found some pics. 14 of them that I liked. That seemed to follow some of his rules of composition and exposure and that aren't 'pornographic or Gory'.
* When I told Judith these rules she suggested that I take a photoshopped image of an Al Gore look-a-like balls deep in a mountain gorilla... pornographic and Gore-y.*
So I looked at my printing options and the best one seemed to be to buy online and pic up the next day at Target. Hence the trip.
So after a journey during which my traction control displays lit up like Vanessa Feltz's brain in a cupcake store I made it to target only to be faced by a stern looking woman.
"Are these internet pics?" she asked
"Well they're my pics, they just happen to be stored online"
"You took these pics?"
"Yup"
"You're sure?"
"Unless I've been in an ambien induced coma and dreamed I took them, yes"
"Because they're very good pics"
"Well thank you"
"And if you didn't take them we can't give them to you, you're infringing copyright"
"No they are mine."
"Then you're very good at taking pictures" she said and handed them over.
There was even a sticker that said. "Possible professional pics. Question customer and explain the law"
I can't remember the last time I was as happy.
They look great too....
There is a reason for this surrender. The pale Californian who seems immune to our impatience (our photography teacher) has asked that next week we all bring in two 8*10 pics for a critique class. I've looked through my Flickr pics and despaired that it's been months since I took a good pic. Then that it's been months since I've dared take a camera outside for fear of it shattering like fruit in liquid nitrogen.
But I've found some pics. 14 of them that I liked. That seemed to follow some of his rules of composition and exposure and that aren't 'pornographic or Gory'.
* When I told Judith these rules she suggested that I take a photoshopped image of an Al Gore look-a-like balls deep in a mountain gorilla... pornographic and Gore-y.*
So I looked at my printing options and the best one seemed to be to buy online and pic up the next day at Target. Hence the trip.
So after a journey during which my traction control displays lit up like Vanessa Feltz's brain in a cupcake store I made it to target only to be faced by a stern looking woman.
"Are these internet pics?" she asked
"Well they're my pics, they just happen to be stored online"
"You took these pics?"
"Yup"
"You're sure?"
"Unless I've been in an ambien induced coma and dreamed I took them, yes"
"Because they're very good pics"
"Well thank you"
"And if you didn't take them we can't give them to you, you're infringing copyright"
"No they are mine."
"Then you're very good at taking pictures" she said and handed them over.
There was even a sticker that said. "Possible professional pics. Question customer and explain the law"
I can't remember the last time I was as happy.
They look great too....
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