shity cars we love, the story of ford escort MKI: alan mann racing and other greats

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the ford escort alan mann racing. the ford, not unlike the mini cooper, was a goofy car that kicked ars.

ford escort debut in 007 james bond film… also look for alan mann gold and red escort as well as the original ford escort’s kooky commercials

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ford escort twin cam rally race editions

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the escort MKI was in production from 1968 to 1975

if you are a fan of escorts, go to kick starter, and help david brodie tell his story about his beloved escort “run baby run”

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the original rally race car

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less grill is the best grill

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right hand drive – interior of the RS ford escort MKI and early MKII

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green light 1/43 scale fast and furious ford escort model approx $20

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and now the newly released for 2015 tiny hot wheels 1/64 scale “fast and furious ford escort RS1600” toy version. an awesome replica for $3 that will surely become a collectors. go out and get one.

“the mark I ford escort was actually not made in the US but rather introduced in the UK for its premier at the end of 1967. it replaced the successful long running anglia. the car was presented in europe as a product of ford’s european operation. initially the continental escorts differed slightly from the UK built ones under the skin fitted with dual hydraulic circuits; and wider rims. at the beginning of 1970, european production transferred to a new plant in west germany.

the escort was a commercial success in several parts of europe, but nowhere more than in the UK, where the national best seller of the 1960s, the famous mini cooper/morris were beginning to show their age. in summer of 1974, six years into the car’s UK introduction, ford announced the completion of the two millionth ford escort, a milestone hitherto unmatched by any ford model outside the US. it was also stated that 60% of the two million escorts had been built in britain. it eventually became the european car of the year. a higher performance version for rallies and racing became available, under the name of escort twin cam and went to win numerous races all across the world.”  by dd+wp

encyclopedia wikipedia by michael mandiberg

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we kindda like the idea of having all these white books on our book shelves. this is the entire english language wikipedia in 7,600 volumes. generated by software, and created by artist michael mandiberg and available for $500,000. print wikipedia is less of a practical tool and more of an artistic observation of the largest accumulation of human knowledge. it is a poetic gesture towards the futility of the scale of big data that has become such an important part of our daily lives. pretty cool. by dd

the Largest Collection of Comme des Garçons Publications Ever

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idea books is a london-based company in the business of rare books. founders angela hill + david owen have spent the last 15 years hawking v. rare books and magazines. idea books’ focus is on selling highly sought after, and out-of-print fashion, photography, design, and architecture publications, mainly by selling its coveted collection through their instagram.

idea books has brought its collectibles to the US with a shop-in-shop in new york, which it is touting as “the most exhaustive collection of publications about comme des garçons ever assembled.” on display are two copies of comme des garçon 1975 – 1982, one of the most desirable fashion publications ever produced—one that the company was shocked to find. a run of six, a publication for every CDG collection that ran from 1988 to 1991, a copy of comme des garçon 1981 – 1986, and the comme des garçon visionaire that was guest-edited by rei kawakub. by lb

the history of Afghanistan: bitter lake, a film by BBC’s adam Curtis tracing the story of Islamic state

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this is the 3rd time we are embedding this film and it keeps getting taken down (!) you may want to search it on youtube if and when this 3rd copy is taken down again

although “bitter lake”, a film by adam curtis, was produced by the BBC, the content of the film was rather too much for its audience to publicly promote. therefore the film remained in the back logs of  their press efforts, and therefore seldom seen.

here is your chance to delve into the history of afganistan, the taliban, and the role saudi arabia and north america played in their faiths. its the story of how the islamic state (IS) was created and why. how fixing one problem, like the spread of communism, could cause to spearhead another one, like the spread of an extremist sect of wahabism (a version of islam created by the saudi elite).

this was achieved by exporting, funding and supporting this ideology to afganistan and beyond. it was done at a time when an evil entity was supported to bring down yet another enemy. of course today we are left to manage the monster we helped create. a good film to see for anyone interested in world affairs, beyond what fox news has to offer. by ac

time for some Krautrock: the can vs. kraftwerk

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the can surely can: damo suzuki killin’ it on stage

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early kraftwerk rockpalast 

if you like electronic music here are the godfathers before it all started. early kraftwerk experiments using home made machines and instruments

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diggin’ the scene in the 1970’s rockpalast

the can concert : soest 1970

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the audience was dumb founded, going between “can i get the f#@ck out” and “i’m gonna kill the guy on the flute”

you gotta look at this post not as entertainment, but rather as your “duty”. remember history class in 7th grade? yes it’s torturous, but in the name of art, evolution and experimentation, here are two devastatingly difficult concert you must submit to watching. if nothing, just to accept the future generations experiments in the highly intellectual world of music and art. just look at that acclaimed work of today’s giants, like kenya east or lady gogo, and ponder for a moment of what they have contributed to our world. (pardon our sarcasm).

kraftwerk include: florian schneider (flutes, synthesizers, electro-violin) and ralf hütter (electronic organ, synthesizers) met as students at the robert schumann hochschule in düsseldorf in the late 1960s, participating in the german experimental music and art scene of the time, which the british music press dubbed “krautrock”.

the can constructed their music largely through collective spontaneous composition—which the band differentiated from improvisation in the jazz sense—sampling themselves in the studio and editing down the results. bassist/chief engineer holger czukay referred to can’s live and studio performances as “instant compositions”. i think you can see that! by rb

smoking and drinking are fine: but here are 6 things you should not do

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ok i know we all smoke… occasionally,  and we all drink like tomorrow is our last. but still… that is no reason to use deodorants, or even worse, sleep each night on our mattress at home (bear with me). i mean yes, we all do stupid silly things, but that is because we chose to, knowingly. we heard the news, read about the risks, researched the possibilities and then, and only then, we went on a shark feeding dive in tahiti. what we hate is that we are risking being poisoned, with out our knowledge, and with out a single mind altering benefit to write about, while we fill the pockets of the chemical industry giants. this has gotta stop. but we must start somewhere. here are 6 things you should not do…

1- BPA’s in canned food:

how to avoid: majority of canned goods use BPA in their lining, this synthetic hormone has been linked to various forms of cancer, as well as reproductive problems and heart disease. look for BPA free cans and avoid plastics that are marked with “PC” or recycling label #7. read the back of the can.

2- PVC’s in anything plastic that goes into your mouth:

how to avoid: they are in those clear ice coffee cups (shit i drink 4 a day!) plastic food containers (topper-ware), plastic utensils, children’s toys and plastic wrap and anything made from PVC. this baby encourages the death of testicular cells in men and is linked to hormonal changes, birth defects related to the male reproductive system and thyroid abnormalities, but nothing else.

3- PBDE’s (flame retardants) are in your mattress, sofa, curtains, stereo:

how to avoid: it’s virtually impossible to avoid PBDE’s entirely, they are used as a flame retardant and many attempts to ban them have been crushed by the industry lobby. they cause permanent learning and memory impairment (which explains the young intern syndrome of today), delayed puberty onset, and decreased sperm count. each night you go to bed, or sit on your sofa, you are being exposed to them through your bodies largest organ, your skin… but it helps to use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to catch the dust that comes off of them. i wonder if even my fancy horse hair bed has this shit sprayed on it?

4- mercury is found in your lovely seafood dish:

how to avoid: cut down on your tuna, especially your fancy tuna (as that is the worse), if you must eat tuna (bluefin tuna status: endangered species) eat the cheap canned tuna (BPA free can) because they use the younger tuna (bad for the species, but better for you) or the less fatty parts of bigger tuna which contain the least mercury as mercury is stored in the fat of the tuna (and then yours) and the fat of the fish that the big tuna eat. mercury builds up in your body (like radiation) and exposure leads to brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system diseases. yum! make mine seared.

5- aluminum and parabens found in antiperspirants and creams:

how to avoid: get hand and body lotions that are paraben free. absolutely avoid all common deodorant like “dry idea”, “ban” (i mean the god-damn name warns you on the label, how stupid are we?) “degree”, etc. try a brand that does not list anything aluminum+(blah, blah) note that you will stink for the first few weeks but then you’ll be surprised as to how less stinky you become after that. that is because “antiperspirants” literally block your sweat glands and do not allow sweat to exit. now where do you think all that sweat goes? that is all the toxins that have been building up, finally coming out. imagine if you finally pooped after, say 18 years, its not gonna be a pleasant sight. aluminum is responsible for increased risk of breast cancer especially if you shave before applying. but also alzheimer… which i already have. parabens simply cause breast cancer but at least you will remember why you got cancer to begin with.

6-  pesticides (organophosphate) found in your average fruit and vegetables:

how to avoid: grow your own shit if you live in woodstock, otherwise buy organic produce whenever possible and use the EWG guide to find out which nonorganic produce contains the least amount of pesticide residue. but what are organophosphate pesticides? ok gotta love this; “these pesticides were originally developed by nazi germany during WWII for use in chemical warfare, using the same chemistry, we now spray them on our crops.” you gotta love capitalism. they are linked to impaired brain development, fertility and thyroid function.

*** disclaimer: drinking and smoking are not fine. they are bad. if you are not already a drunk, or a nicotine addict, do not start. it sucks. also, never believe 100% of what you read anywhere, but especially here. please use this as a starting point to research and learn more about the shit we are being fed, and take action with your purchasing power for our future and the earth future. for beginners you can also watch the “human experiment” movie with mister sean penn on the horn.

end fact: you probably know the EU has strict policies on chemicals. but did you know china has a stricter public exposure to chemical policy than the US? that is actually true. they sell shit to us that they cant sell in china! not their fault, but ours. by dd

Bumcello: we are all wet inside

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“wet” acoustic version below

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this is a song about wetting your pants. but in france that is very romantic supposedly. crazy french guys doing some crazy shit. bumcello… there is much interesting stuff coming out of france, exported by pp. worth a listen. by pp+uh

sit on this: maximo riera hippo chair is one motherfrying furniture icon

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created in the same style as the rest of his chairs from the “animal chair collection”, the aptly named maximo riera‘s “hippopotamus chair” was created in thick, black, leather with a limited run of just 20 editions. you can sit on one for a hefty $95,000, but just imagine, no matter how fat your future guest will be, they will feel at home and will forever appreciate your love of blubber (PS blubber is indeed found in hippos which makes these chunky animals surprisingly buoyant). by ar