Rides of Heads of State (Part 28.1)

We're down to the last dirty dozen. Today, I can only offer three discoveries.

183. Papua New Guinea. Given the poor state of this country's infrastructure, I had assumed that Somare would ride in an SUV, probably a Land Cruiser. But I was wrong. His ride, I believe, is the E-class Mercedes in the background at this golf tournament.


184. Marshall Islands. Here we see the ride of the penultimate president of the RMI (Kessai Note)-- a Caddy DTS. It should be no surprise. Until recently, the nation was a U.S. territory. Plus, you'll notice the ROC flag on the car. The photo was taken when Chen Shui-Bien was in town throwing money at the RMI for its loyalty. You'll recall that the ROC President's official ride has always been a Caddy as well.


185. Laos. It seems the Lao government bought a large fleet of Mercedes S-class sedans for its government officials. Sharp-eyed tourists have spotted the leader's black Merc motorcade zooming through Vientiane. Here is a shot of the Merc belonging to the Lao ambassador to Thailand.


Updated tally:
S-class: 58
Land Cruiser: 18
7 series: 15
A8: 11
Caddy: 7
Maybach: 6
Suburban/Yukon/Escalade: 6
Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero: 4
Phaeton: 4
G-wagen: 4
Holden-Chevy-Opel: 4
H2: 3
Jag: 2
ZIL: 2
Volvo: 2
Touareg: 2
Lincoln: 2
Toyota Crown: 2
Merc E-class: 2

One of each of the following: Lancia, Hyundai, Skoda, A6, Peugeot, Renault, Lincoln, VW van, London taxi, Daimler, Toyota Century, Hongqi, Bentley, Rolls, Ford Fairlane, Aston Martin, SEAT, Ford Expedition, Nissan Patrol, Stutz, Suzuki, Camry, Toyota Sequoia, Proton, Land Rover, Ford F150, Mitsubishi Galant, Hummer H1, Chrysler Imperial, Mitsu L200 pick-up, Mazda truck.

I still need to identify cars from the following countries:

• Europe: San Marino
• Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles
• Oceania: Kiribati, Micronesia, Solomon Island

Help?

CKY

Soviet Symbol of Capitalism

One of the books I am reading is The Alaska-Siberia Connection. It's about how U.S. and Soviet pilots ferried 56% of the Lend-Lease aircraft to the Soviet/Nazi eastern front from Montana through Canada, Alaska, and Siberia.


The Soviet pilots took over the flying at Fairbanks. Due to logistical issues, there was no stencil for the Red Army/Air Force star insignia. A MacGyver prototype working for the U.S. borrowed a stencil from a local Texaco filling station and painted the red star on all the westbound planes.


CKY

Obama: A Brand We Can Believe In

As I watched Obama's plane land in Berlin this morning on the news, I was a little appalled. His plane has his sunrise logo and the mantra "Change We Can Believe In".


Now I have no problem with the chartered plane. But the logo and catchphrase livery cheapen the campaign and the candidate. Obama has officially become the candidate of the Starbucks and American Idol generation. Just the sight of the simple logo triggers a Pavlovian response in our hyper-consumerist populace. We all chant (zombie-like): We must vote for change, change we can believe in.

That reminds me, I've gotta take my Obama sticker off my car.

Auf wiedersehen!

CKY

My Visitors So Far*

This humble blog started in 2006. But it wasn't until a few months ago that I began "tracking" my visitors, i.e. you. Don't worry, you have remained and you will remain anonymous. I just keep track of the number of visitors per day and the countries they are from.


I've listed the countries on the left column. Today, a visitor made El Salvador the 90th country on my list. Obviously, as is the case with my Rides of Heads of State series, I plan to collect them all. And by that, I mean all U.N. member states, plus Taiwan and the Vatican.

I can report that most of my visitors are from the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe. I suspect that a lot of people from "obscure" countries visited this blog because they googled their country's name and the Rides series came up, identifying their leader's ride. Africa, of course, is woefully underrepresented, not only because of poor connectivity, but because people living on less than a dollar a day have more important things to do than to see my review of Maui restaurants.

As of this week, my blog has not been banned by the Chinese Communist Party.

Given one of this blog's major themes, I hope to get visitors from Mongolia and all of the -stans, less Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Thank you, everyone.

CKY

BMW Art Cars 16: Eliasson's H2R

Olafur Eliasson thinks he's innovative. Edgy. Hip.

I think he's a blowhard. Preachy. Full of himself.


He was asked to make an Art Car out of the H2R hydrogen concept car. Instead, he enveloped it in a steel cocoon mesh. His message: car design and global warming go hand in hand. Thanks for the message, pal. Next time, just paint the friggin' car. This Art Car single handedly ruined my 16-part series. Barf.

What lies beneath.

CKY

BMW Art Cars 15: Holzer's V12 LMR

Protect Me From What I Want?! Come on, she's (Jenny Holzer) not even trying.

CKY

BMW Art Cars 14: Hockney's 850CSi

For some reason, David Hockney's 850 looks like a cross between a Porsche 928 and a Lamborghini Miura.


CKY

BMW Art Cars 13: Chia's 3 Series Touring Car

Sandro Chia's depiction of graffiti is, IMHO, pedestrian and uninspired. I've seen more interesting doodles on Pee Chee folders in high school.


CKY

BMW Art Cars 12: Mahlangu's 525i

That this BMW was painted by a woman from Africa (South) is apparent even with a quick glance. Esther Mahlangu was inspired by local, traditional means of decorating one's home.



CKY

BMW Art Cars 11: A.R. Penck's Z1

A.R. Penck's Z1, circa 1991. Think cave painting.



CKY