What could have been

I was browsing through YouTube last night and came across this two year old political ad. It saddened me to the point of misty eyes. Look what America has become today.

And here was the highlight of the 2016 campaign:

Extreme Vespas in Indonesia

H/t Peter S!

Photos here.

Omnibus podcast

I am a big fan of this podcast. Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy! fame) and John Roderick (an indie rocker) talk about random topics a couple of times a week. It's a lot of fun.

US v. USSR/Russia arms sales super graphic

Eating the Globe: Switzerland

C, A, and I went to a fondue restaurant in San Francisco. We dipped bread, sausage, potatoes, and mushrooms in the cheese. It was delicious and super heavy.

Countries tried so far:
Africa: Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Tunisia, Zimbabwe
Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine
North America: Belize, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, USA
South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

About those comments you made

Sorry, guys. Between stupid Yahoo! Mail and my assuming that you guys were all tired of commenting on my blog, I didn't check to see if any comments were waiting to be moderated. There are dozens of comments! I will approve 10 comments at a time (see the column to the right) and cycle through them.

World Leaders Cars (13)

121. Laos: BMW 7-Series. (2008 car: Mercedes S-Class)

The car was auctioned off and here is the lucky winner.

122. Panama: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. (2007 car: Toyota Land Cruiser)

123. Romania: Mercedes S-Class. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)

124. Saint Kitts and Nevis: Lexus LS. (2008 car: Toyota Crown Royal)

125. Saint Lucia: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. (2008 car: BMW 7-Series)

126. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. (2008 car: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado)

127. Samoa: Toyota Land Cruiser. (2008 car: Holden)

128. Seychelles: Mercedes S-Class. (2008 car: Toyota Land Cruiser)

129. Sierra Leone: Toyota Sequoia 4Runner. (2007 car: Mercedes S-Class)

130. Slovenia: Audi A8. (2007 car: Audi A8)

Tally
Mercedes S-Class: 36
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser: 25
BMW 7-Series: 15
Lexus LS: 9
Audi A8: 7
Mercedes Gelandewagen: 6
Chevy Suburban: 5
Toyota/Lexus Land Cruiser Prado: 5
Jaguar: 2
Land Rover Discovery: 2
Aurus Senat: 1
BMW X5: 1
Cadillac: 1
Chevy: 1
Citroen DS7 Crossback: 1
Hongqi: 1
Honda Accord: 1
Hyundai Equus: 1
Hyundai Santa Fe: 1
Lincoln Navigator: 1
Mercedes GL: 1
Proton: 1
Rolls-Royce: 1
Skoda: 1
Toyota 4Runner: 1
Toyota Sequoia: 1
VW Touareg: 1
VW Transporter: 1

Incredible Age of Explorations maps

Unfortunately, it's not yet publicly available.

Dubai Clouds Skyscraper

Honda Prelude F1 Monaco ad

H/t Alan.

Olympus Mons from space

Darien Gap Range Rover

Spotted by Lukas at the British Motor Museum.

You can lease an Arctic Truck in Antarctica

This tip is from our intrepid Antarctican car nut, Charles. He was at a conference in Davos and apparently the Icelandic truck customizer will lease their trucks to Antarctic clients!

Aretha Franklin car-themed ads

Man, she must have made a killing with all these ads.

SNL Japanese The Office spoof

Eating the Globe: An Update

Africa remains a challenge. But I persist.

Future stops:

Since the series started, the Cameroonian, Haitian, Emirati, and Senegalese restaurants I wanted to go to have shut down before I got a chance to go.

Sudanese https://www.yelp.com/biz/z-zoul-cafe-san-francisco-4

Romanian https://www.yelp.com/biz/sauls-restaurant-and-delicatessen-berkeley

Swiss https://www.yelp.com/biz/matterhorn-restaurant-san-francisco

Haitian https://www.yelp.com/biz/caribbean-spices-san-francisco

Land Cruiser Heritage Museum in Salt Lake City

Here's a hidden gem, just 10 minutes from the airport. There are 75 cars in the collection, along with lots of toys, literature, and random memorabilia. A lot of money and expertise went into the display.

The museum was in a warehouse district. There is no signage outside and I almost passed it twice.

This is the predecessor to the Land Cruiser, the Toyota Jeep. This was found in Adelaide and there are only about a half dozen survivors left in the world.

This is the dash of the Japanese Self-Defense Force Mega Cruiser.

I want the white civilian version of the Mega Cruiser so badly!

This Hilux has been to all seven continents.

I just learned about these Blizzards, which were built by Daihatsu. There's even a Bertone version with a BMW engine.

I think these are the internals of a Lexus LX450.

Underneath the Mega Cruiser.

Here's that Hilux again. The metal tubing beneath the doors comes off and can be hooked up front to become a crane for glacier crevasse rescues.

The miscellaneous corner.

This sled can pull a 150-gallon fuel bladder.

Eating the Globe: Congo

I've eaten South African, North African, West African, and East African food. But not Central African, until today.

When I planned my trip to Utah, I found this Congolese restaurant in Salt Lake City. Totally random, right?

The restaurant was nestled in a weathered strip mall between Korean and Vietnamese businesses. Upon entering, there was a chalkboard with a handful of items listed. I asked for something that is traditional Congolese. The waitress pointed to "Goat Meat".

And this is what I got. The goat was rich in flavor and contained unrecognizable spices. The rice was normal. The vegetable on the left is, I believe, matembele. It's like spinach.

Countries tried so far:
Africa: Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Tunisia, Zimbabwe
Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine
North America: Belize, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, USA
South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Bonneville Speed Week 2018 photos

I'm here! And it's amazing.

The salt flats are/is about 1h45m west of Salt Lake City, on the Utah-Nevada border. I checked into the casino hotel last night and made it to the cars first thing this morning.

The layout is interesting. Once you take the freeway exit, you travel north on a paved road on BLM land for five miles. Then, you are on salt. Vehicles stretch for another five to seven miles. This week, three straights are open. Two long ones parallel each other. A shorter rookie straight is perpendicular to the long ones. To the west of the long stretches, you have paddocks, concession stands (not many), and the scrutineering area. Because of the heat and low humidity, walking from end to end is not advised. I parked my car at three or four different spots and walked in between. This is what I saw.

Many of the cars need to be pushed to begin the speed runs. And on the returns, the cars have to be turned off and pushed/towed back. So these rigs are everywhere.

This old Autocar tractor brought everything to the venue from Montana.

I was particularly drawn to mundane 80s and 90s cars that have been turned into racers, like this Citation.

The salt was extremely flat and fairly smooth. Aside from a few divots, passenger cars can go 45. Someone told me that railroad ties pulled behind trucks were used to groom the surface of the straights.

This Dodge Shelby Charger was neat. It was never registered for street use because it was a test model for Chrysler/Shelby. It's owned by a former Shelby manager. It should be capable of running 200 miles per hour once the clutch is replaced.

I learned that the field was most crowded at the beginning of Speed Week (last Saturday and Sunday). Once the teams have broken their respective class records, they pack up and leave. Today, Wednesday, half the cars are already gone. That may be why I was able to get a hotel room so easily.

I did not take that many photos of motorcycles because I don't know anything about them. But this one looked cool.

I've been following this Jensen since it was in England.

This could be a GM ad.

Rotary pickup!

This is the line to do the speed runs.

Note the Crown Victoria being used to push the yellow dragster.

Another cool looking bike.

This badass Ford Torino Talladega was by far my favorite car today.

There were a lot of Kiwis at Bonneville.

This is the start line.

What a weird HHR.

Dodge truck pushing Dodge truck.

I had to go back to that HHR.

A lot of people commuted between the hotels and the track in rusted hot rods.

Isuzu!

I took this parting shot of an RV because Independence Day was filmed here. Tomorrow, I see where the trans-continental railroad connected. Just a short three hour drive from here!