The History of Oil

The ironing is delicious

Just to reiterate... there is no god or other power in the universe that apportions justice. There is no such thing as karma - you should do the right thing because it's the right thing to do dammit not out of fear of cosmic retribution.

It's worth the reminder, because every now and then something happens that is just so apposite that it kinda makes you wish there were a higher power to give some props to.

International Herald Tribune
A New Zealand driver who used a fake car seat belt to fool police was killed in a head-on crash. Ivan Segedin refused to wear a seat belt while driving and had been fined 32 times in the past five years for not wearing one, a coroner's court heard Friday.

Segedin's fatal injuries were caused when he was thrown forward on to the steering wheel in a low-impact crash. No blame or responsibility for the crash rested on the other driver, Nagara noted.

We can only hope that he didn't manage to breed - if that's the case then it's a strong 2008 Darwin Award contender already.

The Moviekillers

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) The anime classic "Akira" is getting the live-action big screen treatment courtesy of Leonardo DiCaprio and a first-time feature filmmaker.
The action will move to "New Manhattan," a city rebuilt by Japanese money.

Why?!

Must I measure out my remaining time on this planet watching Hollywood make pale imitations of classic movies? Sure, it could be great, but the precedents aren't exactly reassuring are they?

Fill 'er up

And what does every new toolchest need? Why tools of course, and if you're all tuckered out from searching down that elusive pear-headed wrench or automatic drop out punch relax awhile, put on a brew and nibble on one of these. How romantic.


I actually have a suspicion that I've bought some of these in the past by mistake. Ever had that sinking feeling as you are putting big amounts of torque onto a nut? - First it feels like you've loosened the nut and then you realise that the nut ain't moving but the spanner, rather oddly, is.

An impressively large chest

For it is here... it looms like the monolith. Too large to join the bikes in the manshed it shall live in the front room and look super awesome. Not only will this encourage me to clean and store my tools properly at the end of a job I may even reserve a drawer for kitchen tools - manly kitchen tools for big tasks. Grrrrr!

Bob, unusal name for a girl

It's possibly just a mid life crisis - but I've been having serious thoughts about a bobber lately. I've kinda had one before but they seem to be in fashion again. Perhaps it's the resurgence of interest in flat-track racing or all that old footage of Evel reminding us just how boss a stripped down ride can look...

...even the Japanese are getting into the scene and have started bobbing small Japanese bikes as well as Harleys - there's an awesome gallery of bikes here.

And then I had to go and stumble upon this site www.kikkermoto.com a firm in California that makes pitbikes, but they now do a small and rather toothsome mini bobber 110cc 4stroke, the Hardknock.


Just the job for my short ride to work! And with the US dollar currently cheaper than using toilet paper the headline price of $1499 sure is tempting... I wonder how much sales tax and shipping would be?

*thinks* Alternatively I could have them deliver it to WhiteBoyBob in the frozen north - the perfect thing for riding around a car show during a summer visit.