Hubba hubba

1988 Ford LTD Crown Vic for sale

Just 70,000 miles. And a six(?!) cylinder. These were the police cars from my high school days. Buggybank ad here.

Battle literally on Turkish-Syrian border

This is bonkers. And, is that an American-made, International-brand, truck that ISIS is using against that poor Kurdish village?

1988 Spratly Islands battle between China and Vietnam

I am reading a book about the South China Sea. A lot more happened between World War II and the present than I thought. Here is footage taken by the Chinese navy. Warning, near the end, there is footage (from afar) of the Chinese opening fire on Vietnamese soldiers standing in knee deep water. These islands and reefs are so shallow, many of these conflicts could be eliminated if we just sunk them.

More info about this skirmish here.

Locke

This movie was shot entirely in a BMW down a British motorway. Virtually one take, except to change out memory cards. The main character is very methodical and is just trying to do the right thing, in his mind. Highly recommend.

BendPak car lift

What's going to upset my wife more? Buying a third car or installing this in the 2-car garage?

Porsches and Catherine Wheel

This WSJ article about Singer Porsches mentioned Catherine Wheel. I haven't heard this song in ages and it's been stuck on repeat in my head for over 12 hours now.

Crowdfunding a racing team-- Brabham

Via Flavio Gomes.

I need your help, Europeans and Citroen-philes!

We've finally figured out what to do for my 40th. Paris in February. I'm going to check out Retromobile, take in all the fancy showrooms along the Champs Elysees, and eat.

Just north of Paris is the definitive collection of Citroens. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public. And I want to go! Does anyone out there have any contacts with Citroen or PSA Peugeot? If so, kindly leave the contact information in the comment section below or email me privately at milhousevanh at geemail. Merci.

Drifting VW T3 truck along the Carousel

Via Flavio Gomes.

KLM lost and found beagle

I can't tell if this is real, but we need a cute and happy story.

Tom Vu seminars

When I was a kid, these infomercials were on all the time. They're hilarious!

Airstrikes in Syria

Major developments last night. It was quite surprising to read about the UAE and Egypt conducting airstrikes in Libya recently. It is also astonishing to see this new coalition of the US and five neighboring countries hitting ISIS.

And while everyone was focused on ISIS, Obama also struck against a different rebel group near Aleppo.

A postscript about ISIS. It seems only Obama is still using the term ISIL, only the Economist is using the term IS, and the rest of the world is using the term ISIS.

2014 retrospective

The fiscal year is about to come to an end for many, so I thought I would highlight my year, month-by-month, in reverse chronological order:

August: Drove this Aventador in Carmel Valley.

Honorable mention: My first post on The Truth About Cars.

July: Bought a wagon.

June: I rode to the Arctic Ocean in a van.

May: One-year anniversary of my solo law practice!

April: A much-needed vacation along the Mendocino Coast, after working non-stop for almost a year.

March: Visited the Academy of Art's car collection with Russo-phile Zack.

February: Went on a food tour in San Francisco and tried liquid nitrogen ice cream.

January: As always, being rchen's co-pilot at the annual Anti-Football Run.

All in all, a great year. Plus, I still have September, October, November, and December to go!

Here is the Bay Bridges route

150 miles. Estimated time is 2h53m (without traffic).

Taiwan military jets landing and taking off on freeways

This week, much of the Republic of China Air Force's inventory was involved in a drill using civilian roadways. It's the usual show of force to demonstrate to Red China that Taiwan can defend itself. I guess the scenario they are preparing for is when China destroys all of Taiwan's air bases.

2 songs on the radio

I did a bit of driving today and heard two songs that caught my attention.

First, Foolish Heart. I've heard it for virtually all of my life, but don't remember ever watching the video.

Only after watching the video did I realize that it was sung by Steve Perry. I dug the guy's raspy voice and 80s hair. Here's my favorite Perry song.

And then, on Live 105, I heard the song from all those Mazda commercials. I had no idea it was a legitimate song. I had assumed it was just a jingle Mazda's ad people made up.

8 Bay Area bridges

This weekend, I'm going to drive over all eight Bay Area bridges.

Here is a map of the bridges. I will be starting from the Dumbarton and working my way north and then east.

Do any of you Bay Area residents have any advice? I'm still debating on the best way to go from the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate.

Russian polonium murderer stars in TV show about traitors

This is scary.

Cameron's desperate plea to Scotland

Monster monster truck

Motorweek review of 4WS Prelude

Look how svelte John Davis was!

Median age of countries around the world

Again, thanks to Peter for the tip.

The Schlorwagen had a Cd of 0.15!

More here. Hat tip to Peter.

1990 Honda Prelude Si ALB

Saw this at the local car show yesterday.

Rchen: The owner wasn't around. What did she tell you about the car?

ALB stands for anti-lock brakes. #hondaprelude pic.twitter.com/KgNLqa6s4p
— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) September 13, 2014

Nick Heidfeld Formula E crash

The good news: Nick Heidfeld almost won!

The bad news: Nick Heidfeld almost won.

The Fly

Just saw it for the first time. I think I'm going to have nightmares.

Well-meaning jerks

This is a freeway overpass near me. Immediately after 9/11, on the 11th of every month, these patriots would hang their flags up and cause traffic jams during the afternoon commute. Thankfully, they got tired of doing it every month and they just do it once a year, on the 9/11 anniversary. Today, this caused a 15 mile traffic jam and a car crash. Jerks.

World Trade Center ads

More here.

Isle of Man motorcycles

I can't imagine anyone over the age of 30 doing this. It takes a lot of courage.

Scottish independence

My mother-in-law is on vacation there now and I asked her whether people are talking about the vote next week. She responded:

Absolutely everywhere!!! It is causing a great deal of concern. Families and friends simply can not agree on what is best for the country. The vote will be so close. There is no way to predict the outcome. It will mean half the people in the country will be disappointed and/or angry. Things are VERY tense.

Sushi popper

My LeMay museum post is up on TTAC

Here.

Werner Herzog Happy People of the Taiga

This is definitely worth your 90 minutes. The documentary follows a couple of hunters from a remote Siberian village of 300. They each have a 1,500 square mile territory to trap fur in the winter time. It's amazing what these guys can do with a dog and an ax. The men are not necessarily happy in the Western sense, but they are content under very harsh conditions.

Good news / Bad news

Bad news first: I am the high bidder on this Aston Martin DB7 owned by AC/DC's Brian Johnson.

Good news: "Reserve not met".

INSANE Colombian motorcycle road race

Via Flavio Gomes.

Reagan bear Cold War ad

Rule of Law, American Style

This news story really stuck out yesterday, and that's saying a lot, with another ISIS beheading, Russia in Ukraine, ebola,.... Two African-American men in North Carolina were freed after 30 years in prison. Before we criticize anyone else's criminal justice system, let's look at what we did:

• 30+ years ago, an 11 year old girl was raped and murdered.
• The police arrested two half-brothers (Brown and McCollum). Both are mentally incapacitated. McCollum has an IQ of 51 and the mental capacity of a 9 year old.
• The police coerced confessions out of the brothers. There was no other evidence against the brothers. The police interrogated them for five hours, without a lawyer present.
• During the investigation, the police ignored a predator who lived a block away from where the girl's body was found. That predator even admitted at the time to committing a similar rape and murder.
• McCollum and Brown retracted their confessions, to no avail. One spent three decades on death row. The other was serving a life sentence. In an appeal, Supreme Court Justice Scalia thought it was fine that McCollum be executed. In fact, Scalia even said, "How enviable a quiet death by lethal injection compared with [the girl's brutal murder]!".
• DNA from a cigarette butt found at the scene was traced to the predator. The brothers were finally freed this week.
• As Brown walked out of prison, a free man, he declared, "God is good all the time."

1986 Owosso Pulse

I finally visited the LeMay Museum in Tacoma, Washington, on Sunday. It's a pretty impressive collection and the cars are displayed exquisitely. Here is an odd car.

Best selling vehicles by state

Source.

H/t to Peter.

ISIS sharia law enforcers in Raqqa

It's time. I have been avoiding watching in-depth videos of ISIS because I didn't want to see images of headless bodies and psychopaths spouting off non-sense. But I finally watched the 5-part Vice series on ISIS in their capital city of Raqqa in Syria. The third episode, below, is the most benign. There is no violence until the 8:50 mark, when they show a crucified body (be warned). This episode follows the morality police and ends with interviews of prisoners. It's worth a watch as you get to see what daily life is like in the city and the protagonist/antagonist is an odd figure.

Foreign fighters in Syria come from at least 81 countries (list)

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Canada
Chad
Chile
China (Uyghur?)
Cote d'Ivoire
Denmark
Egypt
Eritrea
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan (!)
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Libya
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Maldives
Mauritania
Montenegro
Morocco
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Somalia
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
UAE
UK
US
Uzbekistan
Yemen

Source.

Me in a Ralph Lauren ad