phil

cars, animals, space, humour, history, film, occasional rants and more...

[phil @Philly_Ocean]

Vintage car racing from Goodwood. Sign me up! https://t.co/aqwNCcypQ7

[David Burge @iowahawkblog]

Today's Dave's Car ID Service pays homage to the wild body graphics of the Muscle Car Era, starting with the GOAT - the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Screaming Chicken.

Coincidentally enough, today is also the 60th birthday of the Firebird. In a way. On June 28, 1966, Chevy's Pete Estes held a press conference announcing a new car line to battle the Ford Mustang, code name XP-836, and its name would be "Camaro." Pontiac was the only other GM division that would get the platform, with slightly different styling and powered by a Pontiac engine, under the the Firebird name.

From 1967-68 the Firebird sort of languished in the shadow of its Camaro cousin, but it did have some success in Trans Am road racing by privateers. "Trans Am" is short for Trans America, a series for sub 5 liter (302 cubic inch) stock cars.

Anyhoo to mark that success Pontiac rolled out the Trans Am option package for Firebird in 1969. At first it was fairly restrained; Cunningham-style blue hood stripes over white. But designer Bill Porter, inspired by an abstract design on a Tiffany vase, sketched out what he thought would be a cool graphic cue for the next gen Firebird, which was honed by Norm Inouye.

Porter taped the graphic to the hood of the styling studio clay model to gauge the reaction of GM's head styling honcho Bill Mitchell. It did not go well, as Mitchell allegedly let loose with a string of profanities. But it did appear on the 1970-72 Trans Ams, albeit as a very small decal on the nose.

In 1971 a persistent GM designer named John Schinella decided to re-present the idea to Mitchell. He noted that Mitchell rode a custom Yamaha bike painted black and gold in graphics like the John Player Special F1 car. Schinella applied an enormous Screaming Chicken decal on a black Firebird, parked it next to Mitchell's custom Yamaha.

This time Mitchell relented, and the idea was approved. The first 3 "hood birds" are in top secret August 1971 photo (1). They were offered for sale in September 1972 with the rollout of the 1973 model year. Not all Trans Ams had them, it was optional graphics package code WW7. But the buying public clamored for them.

And why not? It's exactly the kind of statement that the kind of person who wanted a Trans Am wanted to make. Loud, brash, unapologetic, a 10 minute Free Bird guitar solo on wheels. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

[phil @Philly_Ocean]

"A new progressive mafia rules Britain's arts world by fear..."

[Rosie Kay @RosieKayK2CO]

Top opinion piece on today’s @Telegraph!

Writing was not my first love- dance is- but in these times I’m so grateful to be able to express what is happening in the arts.

Link next.

[Tex Avery Toon @TexAveryToon]

Give way for the senior most musician 😂

[Les Cater Wildlife photographer @Lesliecater1]

This Gannet was tucked into the cliff face just below where we were standing, it was having a rest and preening/cleaning it's plumage. Now and then it went to sleep, then as in the second image, it woke up and turned it's head upside down and rubbed it on it's back. Lovely to see

[Daily Dutch Masters 🎨 @Goudriaan2]

Dog and a Birch Log
Govert Camphuysen, 17th century

[Oliver C Wright @OW_Photography]

Back lit clouded yellow butterfly with dew in North Bulgaria

A difficult species to find roosted. Tend to roost low in foliage which is a similar colour to themselves. If you see pics of these "roosted" up on flowers the photographer probably moved the butterfly

[Gareth Harney @OptimoPrincipi]

A perfectly preserved ancient wooden pulley dating to the 2nd century BC, recovered from the Pozzino shipwreck off the coast of Populonia, Tuscany. Populonia Archaeological Museum

[Super 70s Sports @Super70sSports]

Tell me this wasn’t a better world back when you could drive to the record store and meet Prince. You can’t do it.

[Gareth Harney @OptimoPrincipi]

Roman obsidian skyphos drinking cup, expertly cut from a single block of obsidian and engraved with a winding grapevine. Ancient obsidian vessels are mainly known from fragments, however the unusual engraved decoration on an intact and complete skyphos like this one is without parallel. 1st century AD. Displayed in the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, Netherlands, 'Glass' Exhibition 2020-21.

[Computer ♥ Records @ComputerLove_]

17-year-old school leaver showing off his customized Vespa scooter, which has 34 mirrors and 81 lights.

[Silent Movie GIFs @silentmoviegifs]

Conrad Veidt in The Hands of Orlac (1924)

[phil @Philly_Ocean]

Absolutely. I really enjoy his books.

[PoIiMath @politicalmath]

Michael Crichton is such a fascinating figure and it is a goddamn shame he died so young

This guy got into Harvard Medical School and said "actually, I want to write stories" so he wrote one of the most harrowing long short stories, the Andromeda Strain.

This guy was addicted to research. He read scientific journals for fun and researched everything that captured his interest. He was curious and skeptical. He thought hard about the implications of technology all the time.

And, instead of being a dork and writing a blog, he wrote entire novels warning about the dangers of emerging technologies. And they were great!

He wrote a `Prey` about the dangers of combining AI with nanobots 24 years ago. It's tremendous. You could publish it today and it would be relevant.

I miss him. I miss technically competent authors who can spin a good yarn while informing the reader about how technology is changing the world.

Crichton was a generational talent and we are poorer for his absence.

[Ron Birds @BirdsRon]

Headed out to Edward B Forsythe Wildlife Refuge recently hoping to pic up a few straggling Spring migratory shorebirds. After scoping through several species of tern/gulls off the shoreline, I notice one, unlike the rest. Turns out it was a Gull-billed tern. Made my day for sure.

[Marc Morano @ClimateDepot]

‘It’s like feudalism’:

EU HQ shuts off air conditioning during heatwave – but only for floors 1-7, where people of lower rank work

https://t.co/1Sowx7XoOC

[Henk Heijmans @_Henk_Heijmans]

Jean Sibelius (Finnish, 1865 - 1957) in his tree root chair in the border area of the Ainola grounds, Järvenpää, Finland, ca. 1940 - by Santeri Levas (1899 - 1987), Finnish

[Henk Heijmans @_Henk_Heijmans]

Model Vicki Hodge with her Borzoi Kika ... both wearing maxi coats, 1970 - by Doreen Spooner (1928 - 2019), English

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

Importing people who hate our country has been one of the most boneheaded things American elites have done — and there has been no shortage of boneheaded moves over the past 30 years!

[I Love To Talk Film @ILoveToTalkFilm]

“I know you, my sweet. You're a sharp-clawed, treacherous, little peacock. But you are food for the gods, and I am going to have all of you.”
The Ten Commandments

[Eyal Yakoby @EYakoby]

They would all be thrown off roofs in ‘Palestine’.

[New York Post @nypost]

New magic mushroom makes users see tiny 'gnome' people - scientists have no idea how it's doing that https://t.co/74c6mlgujw