Usonian | On our weeklong trip around Wisconsin we have visited a number of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Today we stopped by the Herbert Jacobs house which was built in 1937. A very early version of his ‘everyman’ Usonian home its carport was complete with a classic 60’s Swedish sports-tourer Volvo P1800. The red car works superbly with the red brick and Cherokee red paving.
Bacon | Hogs can be other bikes too! Here’s a perfectly well engineered custom machine which has an adapted 3 cylinder Diesel engine that can be run on bacon grease. This was commissioned by Hormel Foods who make Spam.
Watch it in action here: Black Label Bacon Motorcycle
Unfinished but Complete | Loose sketch study of vintage Triumph by accomplished artist and graphic designer Camille Meehan. Soft pencil lines describe form and volume in simple execution.
Black Bike | I managed to buy a fairly genuine Cornish pastie in Mineral Point WI. It was established in the 1830’s by miners from Cornwall looking for galena -lead ore. A grand spot to act as a base for future rides around this area.
Highway 39 | South West Wisconsin- the rolling green countryside and swooping roads that meander amongst gently hilly farm and wood land. *mental note: must come back on motorcycle
Kinky Boots | As Patrick Macnee (John Steed) & Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale) sang back in 1964:
“Full length, half length,
Fully fashion calf length,
Brown boots, black boots,
Patent leather jackboots,
Low boots, high boots,
Lovely lanky thigh boot,
We all dig those boots..”
Nice Trident & Commando too!
Box | the new panniers which were part of a special deal from Triumph are arriving soon. Just waiting for the mounting rails. Then we’ll be rolling like a mule!
Grow Grow The Lightning Tree | early seventies teenage drama about an entitled girl Dora who gets relocated to her uncles horse farm. Rural characters abound including local rogue Ron Stryker who tears about the countryside on his customized Triumph Tiger Cub.
Ruddy ‘Ard | That there’s versatile actor Tom Hardy sat on a Triumph Thruxton on some city street corner. Effortless cool.
Birds of a Feather | interesting colonial imagery of some tribal leader with his feathered headdress astride the diminutive but useful 125cc BSA Bantam. Not quite in the vein of an Edward Curtis portrait but early National Geographic nonetheless.
50 Years Ago | We ventured, only a small step in the vastness of the Universe, beyond our earthly home. A journey of 3 days over a quarter million miles to our neighbor the Moon. A scheme so daring and difficult it gave us a glimpse of what was possible as a race when minds and courage come together. This iconic photograph taken by Neil Armstrong of Buzz Aldrin shows a man standing on a grey dusty plain under a black sky lit by a bright sun. We really are amazing… it’s just a shame a a civilization we’re quite dumb some of the time too…
The Eagle has wings | So said Neil Armstrong as the LM separates from the CM on its way to the lunar surface fifty years ago today. Its spidery and seemed ungainly form was spare and ideally suited to the vacuum of space.
He’s Dangerous | The official trailer for the sequel to Top Gun was released today. Called Top Gun Maverick it stars Tom Cruise as the titular character – this time an aged fighter pilot rather than a brash young jock. Kawasaki motorcycles feature again. A brief sighting of the original Ninja 900 as well as a speeding Ninja H2. The Need for Speed.
On Reflection | all photography releases by NASA shows how beautiful the ventures into space truly are. The LM Eagle reflecting the cratered surface is like a delicate Faberge egg balanced over a rugged plain.
Moonship Cutaway | beautiful technical illustration of the Command Module. The three astronauts traveled to the moon and back in the claustrophobic confines of this vessel. Though in zero-g it became very slightly more voluminous. They also had the Lunar Module which was docked to the nose of the LM for more elbow room. The CM is the only piece of hardware that made it back to earth.
