Since today is a racing kind of day, I figured that I would post up some great racing videos.
The 1982 Indy finish may be one of the most exciting ever… I remember going to the track with my Dad in 1989… during the video playback at the museum, people were cheering for Rick Mears.
And the other big race of the day is the Coca-Cola 600. Last year, Casey Mears put his first in the books… in a big way.
Enjoy.
I keep seeing so much about the high cost of gas, gas tax schemes and who is to blame. Well, I need to toss my nickel into the fray and clear up a few things…
Let’s take the last one first, Who’s to blame? If you listen to many in front of the media’s cameras, it seems that since the oil companies are making record profits, it must be them. Or, since George Bush and Dick Cheney used to be in the oil business, it must be them. And there is always China…
But, here is the problem. We don’t have enough domestic supply. We could. But we don’t. There are a couple of things of note that we don’t hear often enough. A certain portion of ANWR (the 10-02 area) was set aside by legislation as an area to explore for oil… and that area is about the size of Hartsfield Airport… in an area the size of Georgia. Or about the size of a football sitting on the on the sideline of a football field.
photo credit: Erika Hall
The economically recoverable oil could replace the bulk of middle eastern oil we import for about four decades.
If we add to that the oil that we know of on the continental shelf, in the Florida Staights (that Cuba and Venezuela are getting ready to drill for… sideways under our territorial waters), the Gulf Coast of Florida and the oil off the CA coast, we could cut of most if not all unfriendly oil, provide hundreds of thousands of high paying jobs and move towards energy independence.
But Democrats in Congress, at the behest of groups like the Sierra Club block the votes on the issue.
Schemes to drop the gas tax sound nice, but they won’t really help. Oddly, I have to side with Obama on this one. McCain’s plan wouldn’t actually address anything. Clinton’s plan is downright stupid. She wants to “pay” for the tax holiday by levying a special tax on the oil companies. Since the gas tax is actually more than the profit per gallon, the oil companies would have to raise the price to offset Hillary’s special tax… Sounds nice, but it is stupid.
photo credit: qqqnl
We have a serious energy issue in this country. Corn isn’t the answer. Slogans from special interest groups aren’t the answer. Wind and solar sound nice, but cost WAY more than coal and nuclear power. Oil isn’t going away, and it’s high time we start going after our own.
Saturday, May 10th was the GBR 4WD Club’s annual Mud 4 Blood event in conjunction with LifeSouth and other Atlanta area 4WD clubs.
We had a great event this year, and here are a couple of video clips from the event.
This first clip is the Georgia Rock Rods setting up one of their several parking set-ups. Through-out the day, they re-arranged their rigs in different stacking combinations. The crowd seemed to enjoy the setting up as much as the vehicles once they were in formation.
One of the fans of the stacked Jeeps was my son Garrett. He thought it was terribly cool. He was asking why we didn’t have our minivan parked on top of the dually and project Commando at home…
There will be a video compilation of the sights of Mud 4 Blood coming soon… And save a day in early May for next year’s event.
I don’t know if you remember these from a few years ago, but BMW sponsored a series of short films, featuring their cars, and directed by Hollywood’s heavy hitters.
The first feature today, The Hire – Hostage, was directed by John Woo.
This was one of my favorites, along with “Star” which had Madonna and was directed by Guy Ritchie… I put that on my A/R blog yesterday. I also featured Ambush, directed by John Frankenheimer.
Beat The Devil was notable for the James Brown. It was directed by Tony Scott, and also features Gary Oldman. Also stick around for Marilyn Manson at the end…
I hope you enjoyed these. I re-connected with them by searching BMW Short Films. There are several more.
If you are a blood donor in the Atlanta area… or if you want to be, the GBR 4WD Club is hosting its 5th Annual Mud 4 Blood Drive on May 10th at Bass Pro Shops. M4B has worked its way up to being one of LifeSouth‘s biggest one day drives of the year, and this year will be no exception.
The GBR hosts this event each year in conjunction with almost all of the 4WD clubs in the Atlanta area. In addition to the blood drive, the event features a GIANT raffle. Area restaurants donate food certificates and 4WD vendors donate all sorts of cool products. In 2007, the raffle and donor goodie bags delivered $4000 in prizes and thank you’s. This year’s event looks to eclipse that. Pit Bull Tires is giving away a set of 37″ tires, 4WD Parts/Performance is giving away a winch. Sonic Drive-Ins is giving away 90 hamburgers. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Here is a fairly complete list.
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here is also a silent auction of cool prizes and parts. This year’s silent auction will be benefiting Rescue Tellico. In previous years there has been ferocious bidding for some incredible cheesecakes… Don’t miss those.
Of course, there are kid’s games and plenty to see. New this year is a live band. Serene will be playing throughout the day.
And then there is the truck show. No polishing cloths. Not a wax mitt in sight. These are hardcore trail rigs. Mud and chunks can come off. Some look like a little league team took batting practice on them, others are incredibly stock looking, but with owners that seem oblivious to the damage they could do to their vehicles.
Of course there are sponsor and crowd favorite awards given out, but the ones everyone waits for are the “unique” awards. They happen on the fly, and could be for things like “The Most Interesting Use of a Windshield Wiper Arm.”
So, come out to Bass Pro Shops at Discover Mills in Gwinnett County, On Sugarloaf Parkway at I-85. The event will run from 9:00 to 5:00, and the truck show will be from 10:00 to 3:00. For more information, feel free to visit Mud4Blood.org.
GarageHomesUSA is a sponsor, and I will be on-site all day long. Any of the GBR folks will know where to find me. They will be in blue GBR T-shirts for the event. Stop by, say hello… give some blood.