Over the weekend I watched a disappointing French animated horror flick, Fear(s) of the Dark (2007). It was not at all frightening. In fact, it often seemed pointless. Much better was the World War II submarine flick Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Although... haven't I seen this film years ago? It seemed familiar. I guess it's like watching hundreds of films noir - you begin one and wonder if you haven't already seen it before. After awhile you begin to look for things which make these films different from one another.
I attended the Bug Out on Sunday, the big Volkwagen show at the Old Dominion Speedway. I took videos:
Part One: Introduction and Karmann-Ghias (8 minutes)
Part Two: Things (5 minutes)
Part Three: Buses, water-cooled and etc. (9 minutes)
Part Four: Beetles (17 minutes)
Part Five: VW Racing (4 1/2 minutes)
Who will be watching all of these? I don't know. Car buffs who will tire of hearing me overuse the adjective "nice." These were as much a shakedown test of my video camcorder as anything else. I wanted to see if I could correct the bright sunlight over exposure problem I had noticed by being more careful by either using the "Smart Auto" feature or manually setting the exposure level to shut down the aperture. It appears I can. In retrospect I probably should have set the white balance to "daylight" instead of simply relying upon "auto." A vivid lime green Karmann-Ghia came out looking yellow. Not a big deal.
I bought a couple of VW trinkets for my garage wall. That KdF (Kraft durch Freude, literally "strength through joy car") logo (shown above) was something of a surprise... I first saw it at last year's Bug Out. It looks rather like something produced by Zuni Indians; I thought it was some kind of homegrown New Mexico Volkwagen logo. Surprise! It was designed, like the VW Beetle itself, under the aupices of the Nazis.
Friday's Burbankia update features an aerial photo taken in the 1940's of my middle school - Luther Burbank Junior High School - being built. That vast expanse in the middle above the existing elementary school would be where the grassy field was when finished. I hated and loathed that field; we were forced to run laps upon it during gym. I was a lousy runner and it was akin to torture. So it was with a real sense of accomplishment many years later, after I had finished running a marathon, that I returned to that place and peered at the field through the chain link fence and thought, "Ha! I have defeated you!" A weird attitude, but perhaps understandable.
Most people think that Burbank, California, is named after Luther Burbank the horticulturist - the only Burbank most people know. It was not. It was named after an early landowner and pioneer, Dr. David Burbank. So... why did the city fathers of Burbank erect a middle school and name it after the plant specialist, adding to the confusion? I do not know. And no, they are not related. At least, not that I have ever read.
The pool opened over the weekend and I was in it twice; due to a heat wave the water was perfect. Summer has arrived!
Tomorrow my wife flies out to Utah for a couple of weeks to help out with household logistical matters after the birth of the first grandchild - which hasn't happened yet but is imminent. I hope this process is in sync with her travel plans! I'll be a wretched bachelor, providing myself with my own honey-dos and meals.
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