HONORING INDEPENDENCE, CLICHES AND ALL

The fire in the sky on the fourth of July
Wakes up the holy night
Down on the ground a crowd gathers 'round
Looking up at the light
Holding hands we tap our toes to the band
And take the pledge of allegiance

There's a big wheel up in the sky
Looking down on our flag waving wide and high

Christmas eve we pack up and leave
But there's snow on the pass
It's go man go through the ice and the snow
Leaning hard on the gas
Pray to the heavens and open our presents
And take the pledge of allegiance

There's a big wheel up in the sky
Looking down on our flag waving wide and high

Out on the edge of town our children lay down
Looking up at the grass
The daughters and sons of wars lost and won
Keeping the peace at last
Play taps fold up the flags and we pack up our bags
And hit the road for the holiday

There's a big wheel up in the sky
Looking down on our flag waving wide and high

Big Wheel - copyright 2005 Gosson Bros Racing Library

And what a week it was. To a backdrop of thirty-some million frustrated Egyptians sorting out their jangled democracy experiment, countless hotdog eating contests were waged here in the land of the sleepwalk and the home of the dial tone. Such Yankee ritualism may have been lost on the Egyptians, but was awarded with lead story headlines here at home, right alongside Edward Snowden and just behind George Zimmerman (neither of which will likely get their mug on a Wheaties box). And behind the scenes, history unfolded at the SGE compound, as e-mailed files flew under the NSA radar and the Gosson Bros Racing Library inched closer to opening its doors to a public ravenous for the truth. Sweet justice, all around.

At high noon on Independence Day, I had to make a hard cross-shift into spam mode for a radio interview to promote CarTech's Show Rods book. The verbal showdown played out on the Motor Mouth radio show out of Long Island, New York, hosted by Ray Guarino and Chris Switzer - two lifelong gearheads so hardcore that they do the show for free, on their day off, just to get word out to the people. BRAVO! In the days leading to and following the show, I connected with Ray and found him to be a real deal hot rodder. Chris seems a solid stand-up citizen himself, but is an admitted restorer, so you can imagine the suspicious wariness between us. Regardless, we all had a blast bustin' each other's chops, even though Chris and Ray enjoyed a sizable timezone advantage, having awoken me at a Godforsaken hour in the name of airtime scheduling. Real funny, guys. It wasn't even noon yet, but I somehow soldiered through it while gargling the previous day's coffee grounds.

Promoting books is pedestrian enough, but in the process of getting to know Chris and Ray, something very important became instantly apparent: The patter and chatter of these two vastly knowledgeable characters would make nice up-grades for "Click" and "Clack" (obviously ashamed to use their real names!) and their old Car Talk show on National Public Radio. With their New England/Italian accents, Chris and Ray would be plug-and-play replacements, with the huge bonus of actual interesting cars being knowledgeably discussed. I hereby challenge NPR to listen to we the people, who want to listen to them the Motor Mouths..... you know what I mean. C'mon! Who's with me? Before you answer that, listen to them in action for yourself: http://www.motormouthradio.com/ Then, suggest this bolt-in swap to NPR and qualify to win a dream date with Nina Totenbag!

While virtually connecting via e-mail, Ray and I played digital show & tell with photos. This '65 GTO is one of his many projects to have survived the years. He's still tweaking it. At a glance, this is way more interesting than any car I've heard about on Car Talk. 

The primered 4-speed '55 Nomad has been with Ray forever. I'm nerfing him toward installing the injected Pontiac engine in the 'mad. Black primer, bumper-delete and aggressive rolling stock: Timeless. Molded grille surround/spoiler and trendy wheels on the '57: Period piece. Your preference? Discuss...

The moving boxes are still being uncrated at the new SGE World Headquarters. Many hold treasures unseen by human eyes for many years. One particularly personal discovery was a piece of correspondence batted back and forth between hot rod artist/drag racer Pete Millar and myself in the 1990s. Pete had agreed to critique my burgeoning Son of Godzilla comic books at the same time that my life was drawn into a vampirical black hole littered with rusty sheetmetal suspended in nitro fumes. My wristwatch hasn't worked since. Pete not only made time to right my pen, but also sent me a rare (and controversial) Isky T-shirt that he designed in the 60s, and a copy of what I believe was the last issue of Drag Cartoons released before his passing. Why don't they make heroes like that anymore? I take that back - the world is still well stocked with heroes. In fact, besides sharing his wonderful skills and outlook with us, Pete also left us his wife Orah Mae and daughter Robyn, who both work vigilantly to remind hot rodders in every zipcode that it's always Millartime!

Top three: Selected personal favorites from the Pete Millar box. Bottom: Robyn and Orah Mae Millar receive yet more awards honoring Pete, from Dave "Tuna Can" McClelland at the 2011 California Hot Rod Reunion. A lot of Pete's magic came directly from these gals. Awesome people, who deserve a trophy just for being themselves.

  Pete's Chicken Coupe delivered his message to readers with an immediate credibility. Does anyone know if the Chicken Coupe ever ran against the Big Daddy Roth/Bushmaster Yellow Fang rail???

The weekend was spent in the traditional holiday manner, torturing the neighbors with an unrelenting nightmarish din. In lieu of open headers at full song, we made do with precarious stacks of hastily wired power amps and dangerously overloaded speakers at James Drive Garage Studio. Now that the Asphalt Playground CD project is basically done, we've moved into promotion mode by mapping out a video project that will involve many of you. Yes, even YOU! Stay tuned for details.

 No weekend is complete without dropping a few hours at Dr. Lockjaw's Temple of Tetanus (AKA Jamie Ford's Custom Metal shop). We threw a few extra sparks in honor of the holiday and began adding crossmembers to my Model A frame (after shooting this photo). It's finally starting to look like something. If only I could squeeze a few more hours into the week...

In other news:
I began work on yet another CarTech book project this week, but it's classified Top Secret.
Some changes are coming in the magazine world that I can't discuss yet, but stay tuned to SGE.
Nostalgia Fuel Funny Cars ran this weekend at Champion Raceway, but I missed the show.
All is temporary. Savor this moment while it's here. I'll remind you again next week.

                                                                         *

THINGS FALLING APART/THINGS FALLING TOGETHER

Valuable lessons were learned here and passed on to assist with evolution of the species. After the fact, many a good laugh was shared. 

Sweet Shellski - the patron saint of deadbeat boyfriends - has this quote posted in her kitchen:

"Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: Room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy." - Pema Chodron

I read those words the very first time I entered Shellski's kitchen, and while I sometimes forget their order, the sentiment has stuck with me. They feel reassuring in my pocket. And they always speak to me when I'm ready to listen. In my experience, the value of a challenge can only be realized when I walk through it. Trying to find a way around it avails me nothing but regret. Speaking of nothing, that's what happens when I balk at the legwork demanded of said challenge. But when I walk through the process willingly, things usually fall back together. Naturally, this all leads directly to Fingerz Mullan and the Nitro Ape altered.
                                                                                 
                                                                                   *

           

                  The "Nitro Ape" Austin Bantam, running amok, as apes and altereds are prone to doing.

Last week on the SGE blog, I spoke of the money crunch that was hindering progress at the Gosson Bros Racing Library. It was difficult for me to make public mention of what I was taught should be a private business matter, but my intuition was to throw the problem out to the world and see if any answers were waiting out there. That leap of faith was rewarded with a solution provided by Fingerz Mullan, partner Andi Whitley, and their historic Bantam roadster (originally the J&J Muffler altered), all featured in my Racing to America book. Seven days later, the book is about to be printed and distributed worldwide, thanks to some receptive drag racers on the other side of the planet, whom I've never met. I'll say it again: This stuff always amazes me, but never surprises me.

                                                                                    *

                                                   

  And what do these disparate images have in common? They were all shot during last weekend's working vacation, of course. Top to bottom: Sheila the Wonder Dog, enjoying our roadside picnic in 107 degree shade; Frightened traveler fending off flies at gas station restroom with fly swatter; Sunbathing treasure discovered in forest clearing; Saint Shellski grilling interviewee in hot seat. The witness was cooperative.

While researching for a recent magazine story, one of my lifelong hot rod heroes was discovered to be living only a few hours away from me. Plans were hastily made for a face-to-face meeting, which took place over this past weekend. You know I can't reveal specifics in public, but I can tell you this much: At this stage of my life, I have been blessed to meet approximately 93% of my heroes, roughly 91% of which have become personal friends. This anonymous individual was no exception. Bonus: Shellski accompanied me and made a solid connection with the subject's wife. Unfortunately, Sheila the Wonder Dog (accustomed to rockstar treatment) was in peril: Dogs are the natural enemy of neighboring sheep ranchers, who are armed and dangerous. Sheila kept a low profile and survived. Everyone else involved savored the christening of new friendship and the possibilities yet to be revealed.

                                                                              *
Happy 4th of July, everyone. Please use caution while tearing it up this weekend in the name of America's birthday party - there's no buzzkill like a 911 call. On the other hand, you'll have a great story to tell! So go nuts and trash everything! Just remember to bring along a camera, okay? Send your Independence Day photos to: Scotty Gosson Exposed, General Delivery, Medford, Oregon, 97501. Let us close with some more previous winners from Independence Days past:

                                                                                     *