Letter from Europe

[Gannon]

Barbara,

Thanks for the olfactory tour...LOL!

I suspect, though, that we're in another boot/barrister moment here...where our language reveals the differences in our respective cultures through the past couple hundred years.

What the heck is a car breakers ?!


Cheers,
John

[Detroit Stylin]

Barbara,

Thanks for the olfactory tour...LOL!

I suspect, though, that we're in another boot/barrister moment here...where our language reveals the differences in our respective cultures through the past couple hundred years.

What the heck is a car breakers ?!


Cheers,
John

I would surmise that it applies to a person who breaks cars... **Kanye shrug**

[Barbara Nadel]

Car breakers are what I think you call car wreckers. They take out the useful bits of old cars and then smash up the rest of the vehicle. The dead bodies of the cars are then stacked up to form sort of metal mountains.

[sumas]

Enjoy you stay active on the DY site.

Mom died and we finally live in our home you visited. The neighbors are just so fantastic. I am unabashedly a Detroit promoter. I get blessed hugged kissed everytime I leave the house.

Starting to get active with this area orgs. It is a blast. People are just so dynamic. This is not a dead city at all. I have lived in three areas of this city and people continue to impress me everywhere

[Gannon]

OK, cool. Thanks!

Better term might be 'junkyard', which allows you to invoke the nasty junkyard dog imagery...but lately, depending upon the yard, they might call themselves scrapyards.

The best ones are car recyclers, they actually disassemble the vehicles and catalog the parts...but I only know of one locally, and they deal exclusively with Volkswagens [[and their family, Audi and earlier Porsches, since some parts are interchangeable.)


Big fun...

Cheers!

[stromberg2]

John, I've got a Porsche 912 1968. What is the name of that company?

Stromberg2

[Gannon]

Recycled "Bugs", Inc....The Parts Place for All Volkswagens.

Helps if you have the actual part with the many-digit code...

What color do you have? I've only seen two of those on the road, ever.

Friend of mine's father, when I was at UofM-D had two 914's in perfect shape...one was the 6-cylinder. I made the mistake of taking his offer of a test drive one time, and I went through the middle of Greenfield Village...Village road between there and the test track...which I really have come to know over the years, as one of my personal test tracks! That silver 914-6 is of the few machines I ever actually lusted after...and still do, in an odd way. What a fun car, if they didn't all end up slightly v-shaped from the 'frame' collapsing.

If I got a Porsche, it would be either one of those or the one you have...although I've got a friend who's been dying for me to take his 944 Turbo off his hands...triple black.

I had to remind him, back when he really used to lobby me, that my Audi A4 Avant would kick its ass...in every way but perhaps the cool factor and overall cost of repair [[meaning his would cost me MORE, LOL!)!


Cheers!

[Barbara Nadel]

Enjoy you stay active on the DY site.

Mom died and we finally live in our home you visited. The neighbors are just so fantastic. I am unabashedly a Detroit promoter. I get blessed hugged kissed everytime I leave the house.

Starting to get active with this area orgs. It is a blast. People are just so dynamic. This is not a dead city at all. I have lived in three areas of this city and people continue to impress me everywhere

I totally get it. If it's any consolation I push Detroit whenever I get the opportunity. So far from a dead city it's ridiculous.

[Barbara Nadel]

OK, cool. Thanks!

Better term might be 'junkyard', which allows you to invoke the nasty junkyard dog imagery...but lately, depending upon the yard, they might call themselves scrapyards.

The best ones are car recyclers, they actually disassemble the vehicles and catalog the parts...but I only know of one locally, and they deal exclusively with Volkswagens [[and their family, Audi and earlier Porsches, since some parts are interchangeable.)


Big fun...

Cheers!

Junkyard is good too. We have a lot of these!

[Barbara Nadel]

Any Amy Winehouse fans out there? So sad about her early death. I loved her and her soulful music. Her dad is going to use some of the money from her records to set up a drug rehab centre for young people so hopefully some good will come out of it. There are so few places for young people with drug and alcohol issues. But if you can intervene when they're young it's so much more successful.

[Gannon]

He would do SO much better creating a place where people can learn when 'enough is enough'...by the time they need rehab it is usually way too late. The drugs and spirits have their hooks in the psyche, and it takes a miracle to reverse that.

I've said for many years that this is the shortcoming of our modern world...there is no positive approach to consumption and fun...we mostly all do it until we drop, or break, or go broke. Most of us have some distraction which we go to when the stress peaks...it is merely a bit more blatant for some.

I don't believe that there is any real difference between someone who leans towards alcohol or drugs to quell their turmoil...and one who over-eats, sexes themselves silly, shops 'til they drop, or even starts fights to tickle their adrenals into action. My working theory is there are 30 buttons of distraction, and we each are sensitive to any number of them.

It is simply more obvious when an individual chooses one of the faster tracks...and a double-damn shame when it is coupled with enormous talent or even gifting. But then again, who knows...she might've had some insight into the meaning and timing of life that we are not privy to. She might've simply come to her time to leave the planet, and there might've been nothing anyone could do...her mother seemed quite resigned to this reality.

We lost a brilliant musician/poet in Detroit last week...not as young as Amy, but in many eyes well before his time. Who is to say what anyone's 'time' truly is?! I defer to the concept of a Maker, and allow some supernatural wiggle-room. In times like these, their actions are quite mysterious, and I'm ok with that.


Sincerely,
John

[stromberg2]

John, It's orange, needs a bit of work, but has an engine that was tweaked by a protege of Harry Pellow, the 356/912 guru. I need to adjust carbs to take it out though. Thanks for the info!

Smokin' Stromberg2

[Gannon]

I've got an old timing light...and we can do those carbs. I used to be a master at it, my old boss could tell I did it by ear and nose. Back in the day when you could adjust mix and volume manually...what joy. Let me know when you want to play with it...we've thread-jacked this one enough!

[Barbara Nadel]

He would do SO much better creating a place where people can learn when 'enough is enough'...by the time they need rehab it is usually way too late. The drugs and spirits have their hooks in the psyche, and it takes a miracle to reverse that.

I've said for many years that this is the shortcoming of our modern world...there is no positive approach to consumption and fun...we mostly all do it until we drop, or break, or go broke. Most of us have some distraction which we go to when the stress peaks...it is merely a bit more blatant for some.

I don't believe that there is any real difference between someone who leans towards alcohol or drugs to quell their turmoil...and one who over-eats, sexes themselves silly, shops 'til they drop, or even starts fights to tickle their adrenals into action. My working theory is there are 30 buttons of distraction, and we each are sensitive to any number of them.

It is simply more obvious when an individual chooses one of the faster tracks...and a double-damn shame when it is coupled with enormous talent or even gifting. But then again, who knows...she might've had some insight into the meaning and timing of life that we are not privy to. She might've simply come to her time to leave the planet, and there might've been nothing anyone could do...her mother seemed quite resigned to this reality.

We lost a brilliant musician/poet in Detroit last week...not as young as Amy, but in many eyes well before his time. Who is to say what anyone's 'time' truly is?! I defer to the concept of a Maker, and allow some supernatural wiggle-room. In times like these, their actions are quite mysterious, and I'm ok with that.


Sincerely,
John

I agree that education is the key in the long run. But so many young people are dying we just need to treat them and try to make them as safe as we can. As those of you know know me will remember I do not believe in the 'war against drugs'. I believe it is a waste of time and that what governments should be doing is taking charge of the drugs trade themselves. Take criminality out of it altogether and treat it as a public health issues, which is it. Give addicts pure substances [[a lot of people die from substances that have been used to cut crack or heroin - like rat poison) and they can take tax revenue from it. Then when people are no longer criminals they will seek treatment if that is what they want. If they don't want there is nothing on this earth that can stop them and so the best case for those not requiring rehab is a safe, decriminalised monitored supply. Like you, I don't know when anyone's 'time' might be, but I do think that Mitch Winehouse's rehab is better than nothing at all. His heart is in the right place and it is good that Amy's money will go into something positive.

[Bigb23]

As one who has had to listen to the BBC America during my power outages, please, get a life! Our there more more boring posts?
I'm sorry, but give me a break. Have you listend to this? How about the futbol in Guyana. I still have a problem wiith American Talk Radio in the afternoons.

[Barbara Nadel]

As one who has had to listen to the BBC America during my power outages, please, get a life! Our there more more boring posts?
I'm sorry, but give me a break. Have you listend to this? How about the futbol in Guyana. I still have a problem wiith American Talk Radio in the afternoons.

Sorry. But I'm British and so I get football morning, noon and night. Our media over here is completely dominated by it. Just can't talk about it any more.

[Bigb23]

I'm sorry for the post. But we only have BBC on PBS, after midnight. Hour after hour. I love talk radio but.......

[Bigb23]

Besides - We have all Commonwealth countries judging "America's Got Talent"

[Barbara Nadel]

Besides - We have all Commonwealth countries judging "America's Got Talent"

You have my sympathies. The people on those shows are awful and make me feel ashamed. Piers Morgan! What can I say? Mind you he may soon be made to come back here to answer questions in court about phone hacking. I can't stand those shows! Britain's Got Talent! God help us there's more talent in your local pub on a Saturday night! It's just all about money and making the judges rich. Loathesome.

Anyway off to London today for a week. We had riots in the city last night and so I'll have to see how things are. A man got shot by police and so it all kicked off. That said, it's about much more than that. The borough where it happened, Tottenham, is poor and has recently had a lot of public service cuts so we can keep our rich people rich. Can't condone rioting but boy do I understand the frustration! I'm the only person who still has a job in my immediate family and I know I'm a potential powder keg!

[gazhekwe]

I read about Tottenham last night and thought the same thing. It's only a matter of time before these things blow up everywhere. We are all feeling the pressure and the futility of hope in the face of these political shenanigans our governments are engaging in with no acknowledgment of the people affected. Lord help us all.

[Django]

To this point, there has been continual looting as London is gripped by some of the worst violence in decades.
The violence, which has spread since the initial riots, is being called more than racial tension, but "unchecked anti-social behaviour." As The Guardian reports, the riots are very likely the result of a mix of poor policing and social deprivation.

Hey Barb, the above^ headlines popped up on my news homepage from the Huffington Post, along with a time lapse video of the fires. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_921636.html

Seems like we dont hear shit about whats going on over there on your side of the pond. Is the above description accurate? Poor policing?

Love your Posts B.

[Gannon]

<sigh>

Why don't more people study history?!

Gandhi showed us how to bring the British Empire to its knees...make the violent prove themselves.


My bet is the worst of this is being done by agents provocateurs in the police force, they've been busted doing it before...this is being allowed to get the populace to demand even HIGHER levels of policing.


Cheers, anyways, we all need a little bit more of that today.

[Gannon]

Dear Barbara...you are one of the few direct contacts we have over there...and the news reports that the violence has hit Manchester. I pray that you and yours remain safe and secure in this strange time.


Sincerely,
John

[gazhekwe]

Wow. That is scary. I hope you will be safe where you are.

[Barbara Nadel]

Just to let you all know first of all that I am fine. I was down in London last week and I did see some rioting but I didn't get hurt or even that frightened. Some kids just tried to break a cash machine out of a wall, they weren't interested in doing anything else. But a lot of shops and pubs were hit and some of the blame has been laid at the feet of the police. But that is far from being the whole picture. They did shoot an unarmed man, which started the whole thing off, but it was ready to blow and remains so. The cops stood back and let a lot of looting happen saving their numbers and energy, they say, for crimes against people. But a lot of damage was done and they did very little. That said, their numbers are being cut by the government and also the politicians were all in their villas in Tuscany at the time. Kids in our projects and even well educated kids like my son cannot get work, they're continually told that they must make sacrifices and yet all the criminals at the top of our society [[bankers, politicians, the super rich) get away with fleecing the rest of all all the time. If some of them paid proper tax it would help. I am not condoning what was done in the riots - that people lost their lives, homes and businesses is inexcusable, but so is the root cause of all this. Not that Prime Minister Cameron is listening. Oh no! All he wants to do is put still more people in our over crowded prisons and shut down Twitter and Facebook during times of civil unrest. Democracy? Does he even understand the word?