Nuclear fallout in Soviet Kazakhstan

I am reading Apples Are From Kazakhstan.  My plan was to post an entertaining Youtube video about golden eagles or the very artificial city of Astana.  But I came across this documentary put out by Al Jazeera instead.  It's about the 450 plus nuclear tests the Soviets performed in a small area in eastern Kazakhstan called the Polygon.  Be advised that some of the birth defects shown are very disturbing.  The bullshit comes from the Russians, who blame the cancer and disease on a lack of fruits and vegetables in the Kazakh diet.

Monopoly game car piece

I know every one of you readers insisted on being the car when you played the game as a kid.  Any idea what the make and model of the car is?  Or is it just a generic "roadster"?

Credit here and here.

Babies movie trailer

I just saw Babies.  Pretty sweet movie about four babies in Namibia, Japan, San Francisco, and Mongolia.

Strikes at Honda plants in China

New York Times article here.

Dennis Hopper Ford Mercury Cougar commercial ad

Carspotting (40): Peugeot 103 SP moped scooter

As a local yokel, it's always fun to go to the Big City.  Look what I found locked to a parking meter.  I had no idea Peugeot made mopeds.

Ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina attack ad

The U.S. Senate seat battle in California has so far been sedate.  Tom Campbell, Haas Business School's former dean and former Stanfurd Law professor, is pitted against Carly Fiorina, former head of Hewlett-Packard.  The winner gets to duke it out with Senator Barbara Boxer this November.  I have always respected Campbell and may even vote for him this time around.  I must say that I'm a bit surprised at the ferocity of this attack ad.  I always thought he was a gentleman.  But then again, everything in this ad is true.

Who is Antanas Mockus, the next Colombian president?

Antanas Mockus when he was mayor of Bogota, dressed as Supercitizen

The entire South American continent is firmly left leaning.  One of the few exceptions recently has been Colombia.  Well, come this Sunday*, a very eccentric man, a Green no less, may become president.  This will be interesting.  Tensions between Colombia and Venezuela will lessen, but will Mockus and Chavez become pals?  Will an emphasis on human services (education, health care) mean neglect of internal security issues?  Will Mockus clamp down on the right wing paramilitary and actually speak with FARC and its allies?  Only time will tell.  In the meantime, here is a run down of Antanas Mockus (for your Memorial Day weekend BBQ chatter):

• son of Lithuanian immigrants,
• promises to divert 15% of national oil revenue to education (he was a professor/researcher),
• once mooned his students to get them to shut up,
• launched a "Night for Women" and asked men to stay home and take of the kids-- more than 700,000 women went out to open air concerts,
• while serving as Bogota's mayor, the murder rate fell by three-fourths, water usage dropped by 40%,
• diagnosed last month with Parkinson's,
• sports stylish Amish beard.

!Viva el verde!

*No one will probably get a majority on Sunday, although Mockus is expected to win the run-off.

Putting out Kuwaiti oil fires, Warsaw Pact style

Hungarian genius + captured Iraqi T34 tank - turret + 2 MiG 21 jet engines = Great Wind.

Go to 0:18.

Spy Shots: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta

Sales of the new 2010 Volkswagen Golf (MkVI) is picking up pace all around the country and considering the car’s solid feel, classy styling and German engineering, it’s easy to understand why. Oh, did we mention that it’s also available with a dual clutch transmission and a frugal turbodiesel engine that returns more than 40 mpg on the highway?


It’s little wonder the Golf is such a sales success all around the world--but in a country that prefers sedans over hatchbacks, there’s one very important model in the Volkswagen lineup that’s yet to be released. Volkswagen’s new Jetta sedan is just around the corner and has been spied testing in Germany in prototype form.

The 2011 Volkswagen Jetta is expected to arrive in local showrooms early next year as a 2011 model. Previewed by Volkswagen’s New Compact Coupe Concept back at January’s Detroit Auto Show, the new Jetta will feature slightly different styling to the Golf hatchback on which it’s based. A more chiseled front end, sculptured flanks and a conventional trunk at the back will feature on the latest Jetta.

Cold War NATO planes landing on autobahn

Ah, 1980s nostalgia.  This video has it all.  1980s NATO combat aircraft.  Cold War exercise.  On the West German autobahn.

Via Stipistop.

USGP 2012 in Austin!

Finally, an American Grand Prix. Look for the Tamerlane's Thoughts hospitality tent at the race in two years. Free Mongolian food buffet and all you can drink Johnnie Walker!


Remind me to tell you about my day in 100+ degree weather in Austin wearing a heavy black suit driving a black on black Lincoln Town Car.

First time driving the Nurburgring

Andrew at Urbane Musings just posted a summary of his first laps in the Green Hell in his BMW 123d.  Lucky bastard.

For those of you keeping count, I have been on the Ring Taxi wait list for 385 days now.

Red pigs old and new: Mercedes 300SEL 6.8 AMG and S63 AMG

More pictures and article in German here.

Fight the Power: Protest against blue lights in Moscow Russia

Here is the background.

Here is a brave (and funny) protestor.

Johnnie Walker Red Label review taste test

I know nothing about whiskey and Scotch.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  I think I've had two kinds in my life.  Jack Daniels and Crown Royal.  That proves how little I know.  Which again, isn't a lot.

But I've always been fascinated with Johnnie Walker.  It might be because they're displayed at virtually every airport duty free shop I've been to.  Or it might be because it is used as currency in many third world countries to bribe mid- to high-level officials.  So what does it taste like?  Will a neophyte like me enjoy it?

I will start at the bottom-- the Red Label.  I will then slowly ascend to the pinnacle-- the Blue Label.

I got a 750ml bottle of Red today at BevMo for $18.  That seems reasonable, I think.

I will start by drinking it at room temperature, by itself.  As I tilt it in my glass, it looks slightly syrupy and leaves a thin film on the glass.  It has a yellowish, golden hue.  It smells sharp and a bit like rubbing alcohol.  It's not unlike cheap booze I've had in my younger days.  The smell changes in intensity every time I sniff it (I've sniffed it 4-5 times now).  I wonder why that is.  Now, it just smells like hospital.

Sip.  Wow, it's nowhere nearly as nasty as I thought it was going to be.  I can feel its punch and warmth about 5-10 seconds after swallowing it.  And as I finished typing the last sentence, the punch and warmth disappeared almost instantly.  The flavor was mild.

I did not enjoy the second sip.  I'm going to add ice and club soda now.  Be right back.

Yack.  The club soda made it bitter.  Now, my mouth tastes like Band-Aid.  Maybe I'll just add regular water next time.

Stay tuned as I try Black Label.  In the meantime, here is the history of the brand.

Mullin Automotive Museum Oxnard California

Update: Check out my visit to the museum here.

Holy cow.  The Sunday New York Times had an article about the Schlumpf brothers and their ginormous Bugatti collection.  Apparently, some of their pre-war French cars were recently sold to the new Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard (between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara along the Pacific Coast).

Here is an article about the place from Hooniverse.  Right now, it's only open once a month (June 12, July 10, August 10).  Here are some shots of the Art Deco-intense interior and some of its cars.

Hispano-Suiza K-6 shooting brake

Tatra T87

Talbot Lago T26

Delage ERA

I hate snakes

I hate them.  I really hope this drain isn't connected to my toilet.  Oh dear, I am not going to sleep well tonight.

Toyota FT-86 Wallpapers Collection

Toyota FT-86 Concept

Toyota FT-86 Wallpapers

Toyota FT-86 Cars

Toyota FT-86 Side

AE 86 Fast Car

AE 86 Car

AE 86 Drifting

AE 86 Fast Car

AE 86 Cool

Honda S2000 Cool Wallpapers Collection

Honda S2000 Wallpapers

Honda S2000 Red Wallpapers

Honda S2000 Cool Wallpapers Collection

Mazda RX 8

Mazda RX 8

Mazda RX 8 Supercar

Mazda RX 8 Hydrogen

BMW X6 Sports

BMW X6 Sports

BMW X6 Sports Concept

BMW X6 Sports Black Concept

Dodge Viper SRT 10 ACR-X

Dodge Viper SRT 10 ACR-X Wallpapers

Dodge Viper SRT 10 ACR-X Interior

Dodge Viper SRT 10 ACR-X Red

The last space shuttle flight

Sometime in November, Endeavour will be the last shuttle to be launched into space from sunny Florida.  For almost all of us, these flights have become so routine and ordinary that they have become background noise.

Though I grew up living a few hours away from Edwards Air Force Base, where most of the shuttle landings took place in the 1980s, I never got to see it.  Now, with just two flights left, I imagine a lot of people are making plans to visit Florida.  To save the cost of transporting the shuttle from its landing site at Edwards in California back to Kennedy in Florida, all of the landings are in Florida now (weather permitting).

Here is a video of the first shuttle landing.  Check out the old school NASA RV.  It's amazing that something designed in the '70s is still carrying people into space!

This is an extended look at the Challenger disaster.  I remember our school's principal coming into my classroom and telling us that the shuttle had exploded.  My teacher wheeled in a TV and we were glued to it for hours.  I don't think I really comprehended the tragedy until I watched this today (I was too young then).

Here is a launch sequence from last November.

And who knew NASA had mission posters?  Very Hollywood.  Sort of.

The 85 mph speedometer

Our family's early 80s Oldsmobile Cutlass had a speedometer similar to this Cadillac speedo.

It really didn't make a difference on the Olds, but other, much faster cars had them too.  Like the Mazda RX7.

And this Mercedes 450SL.

So what gives?  Well, in 1979, the U.S. federal government required cars sold here to have 85 mile per hour* speedos and something to alert the driver about the 55 mph national speed limit.  This was during a time when fuel economy and hyper-safety were of paramount concern (to regulators).  Now, I'm personally a big fan and admirer of Joan Claybrook, the then head of NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), but I think it's clear that this was a bad idea.  Soon, the rule was retracted.  And we're left with these relics.

*85 miles per hour is about 137 kilometers per hour.

2010 Nike World Cup soccer football futbol ad advert commerical

I know nothing about soccer and even I think this is epic.

Top female singers and songs

I won't be posting again until next week.  In the meantime, enjoy these videos I put together.  They are my favorite songs from my favorite female singers.

And one more thing, the ranking is sort of arbitrary.  It changes with my mood.  This is how I rank them right now.  Today.  This hour.  This minute.  This second.

12. Kate Piersen and Cindy Wilson of The B52s singing Roam: Camp with sincerity.


11. Boy George of Culture Club singing Karma Chameleon: Strange name for a lady, no?


10. Enya singing Only Time: Alternately reminds me of my unheated college apartment in the dead of winter and sunny drives down to San Diego on Interstate 5 (segment between San Onofre and Camp Pendleton).


9. Lauryn Hill of The Fugees singing Killing Me Softly: That voice!


8. Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries singing Linger: Pure, unadulterated.


7. Bjork singing Human Behavior: Haunting, angelic.


6. Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies singing Sweet Jane: Smooth and suicidally depressing.


5. Annie Lennox singing No More I Love Yous: Creepy in a satisfying, passionate way.


4. Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star singing Fade Into You: Bittersweet.


3. Dido singing Thank You: Smooth.


2. Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs singing These Are Days: Sweet, youthful energy.


1. Sarah McLachlan singing Adia: The most beautiful song ever.

Garbage Special video

This may be my favorite song from the late '90s.  Its link to '80s alt pop is clear.

Spyker D8 Peking-to-Paris crossover SUV

I'm not a big fan of SUVs but this is boss.  The original prototype envisioned a Volkswagen W12 (hence the original D12 moniker).  Now, it's more likely to have the 6.2 liter V8 from the Cadillac CTS-V.  But with the acquisition of Saab by Spyker, the D8 project is on hold.