Nothing earth-shattering to report from here, although, once again, while channel-surfing, (I can see that's gonna be a big thing, particularly when the heat really starts climbing in the next month or two,) I happened upon a commercial for a cell phone, using, of all *possible* music, although obviously they changed the words to suit their needs, "Time Warp," from the Rocky Horror Picture Show! As if I needed proof that the Koreans were almost limitless in their ability to misinterpret American culture, this was truly the icing on the cake. That of course, begs the question, what kind of example are we as Americans setting in world culture, and from all this, I'd say the answer is pretty clear, and it isn't good. Or, perhaps, maybe it IS just me, and my capacity to notice things like that, I don't know.
Beyond that, I thought I'd have a little car-guy fun, and regale you all with some of the myriad automotive fairy tales from my years of intricate study:
Camille Jenatzy, one of the pioneers of automobile racing, piloting the "Ne Jamais Contente," an early competitor for Henry Ford's "999" racer, is reported to have been killed while Boar hunting with a companion in the Alps. Apparently, M. Jenatzy's prowess at producing the Boar's mating call confused his friend, who thought he had happened upon some prey. And you thought Ceasar and Brutus were the living end of "with friends like you....."
Bill Mitchell, successor to Harley Earl as chief of GM Styling in the early 1960s, was a notorious malcontent, who knew in most cases, exactly what he wanted, and drove every member of his staff to give it to him, or die trying. In the case of the paint scheme for the early-60s Mako Shark show car, which went on to become the basis for the production 1963 Corvette, he was dissatisfied with the results the staff had produced. He called members of the paint staff into his office, showing them a trophy fish he had caught sport fishing, and told them to replicate the color scheme of the fish onto the car. Members of the paint staff waited until Mitchell had left the building for the day, and replicated the color scheme of the *car* onto the *fish,* which seems, none the less, to have satisfied Mr. Mitchell. God is in the details, it is said; and man, not even Bill Mitchell, is God.
Walter P. Chrysler, who financed, either wholly or in part, a number of automotive brands beyond his own, was seeking a suitable logo for his enterprise with Louis Chevrolet. He reportedly found the answer to his dilemma in the wallpaper pattern in a hotel, and surreptitiously cribbed a piece for reference. Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Malicious Destruction of Private Property.
One of my personal favorites is that of the Spirit of Ecstasy, otherwise known as the Rolls-Royce Flying Lady. Word is, that founder Henry Rolls was nearly aghast at the emblems that owners were affixing to the radiators of their Rolls-Royces, and commissioned artist Charles Sykes to produce an emblem that was more in the spirit of the car itself. As it happened, Sykes had already presented Lord Montagu of Beaulieu a personal mascot for his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, called "The Whisperer," modeled after the graceful shape of Eleanor Thornton, secretary to His Lordship, and, if you listen to the whisperings, his mistress. Geez, can you imagine if Bill Clinton had commissioned a hood ornament based on the shape of Monica? The mind boggles......
My personal favorite among automotive fairy tales (well, okay, *unconfirmed* tales,) is that of Enzo Ferrari, who reportedly, when asked by a journalist why Ferrari racing cars were not equipped with rear-view mirrors replied, "because what is behind you is not important." Words to live by.