Friday, May 30, 2008

"Racial-justice" advocacy groups are at it again

This seems just as productive as the Massachussetts' Legislature's idea to tax college endowments:
The Foundation Diversity and Transparency Act requires California foundations with $250 million in assets to report the composition by ethnicity and gender orientation of their boards and staffs, the boards and staffs of the charities they support, and the degree to which they are run by or support certain minorities.
Right now it is a proposed law.

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Green Fairy was just a lush?

Toulouse would be devastated:
In the most comprehensive analysis of old bottles of original absinthe — once quaffed by the likes of van Gogh, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso to enhance their creativity — a team of scientists from Europe and the United States have concluded the culprit was plain and simple: A high alcohol content, rather than thujone, the compound widely believed responsible for absinthe’s effects.
It does sound a bit like the worst of boozing and doping, all rolled into one:
Absinthe took on legendary status in late 19th-Century Paris among bohemian artists and writers. They believed it expanded consciousness with psychedelic effects and called it “the Green Fairy” and “the Green Muse.” The drink’s popularity spread through Europe and to the United States. However, illness and violent episodes among drinkers gave absinthe the reputation as a dangerous drug, and it was banned in Europe and elsewhere.
Well, I distinctly remember the behavior of all too many of the guys in my dorm during freshman year of college; they needed nothing more than alcohol to be obnoxious and destructive. Can't say they were very creative though. Unless taking a baseball bat to the hallway walls would be considered artistic.

The story is reported in e!science news

Find the scientific report in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Thinking of cars:

As the feller says: It's OK for the tires to wear out in 15 minutes, because it runs out of gas in twelve. World's Fastest Car

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Carolyn Scott & Rookie

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Monday, May 26, 2008

British Car Show at Kapiolani Park, Honolulu

Yesterday Valerie and I motored off to Waikiki in our classic Japanese sedan for a show of classic British cars, courtesy of the local collectors. Plenty of MGs of various vintages, a whole row of white Rolls Royces, Land Rovers tricked out for safari, and here and there the odd Jensen Interceptor or Lotus Europa, the later with doors which topped out at the height of my belt. Neat to be in, I expect, but perhaps hard to get there. Here are a few pics.

A recent Lotus:
 
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1949 MG TC Supercharged:

 
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1949 MG TC:

 
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A 1951 MG TD:

 
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From the days when walls were white and wheels were wire: a 1955 Jaguar XK140:

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The same 1955 Jaguar XK140:

 
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Hibiscus "Shoko"

 
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