playin' around

this is a war paint sketch i did on a lazy afternoon.

hey, sit down again, folks, relax!
i surely WON'T PAINT my baby this way, although it would be a real eye-catcher... just been playin' around with photoshop. and since i haven't worked on photos for a while, the results are somewhat crude. so please forgive me, this is just a sketch... ;-)

photoshop 7, 1 picture of my baby, 2 glasses of german beer and 1 cd (aaron copland, apalachian spring) were used in/for creating this sketch. no vettes were harmed during the procedure.

"overweight"

today, i drove my second "real" slalom, and i came out 5th (out of 6).
if i hadn't knocked over two traffic cones, i would have been fourth. but regardless of that, there was no chance to get a cup this time - the other participants in my group were customized cars (of renault clio or vw polo size) with more horsepower and less weight than my beemer. they had a much better timing - which means: my beemer is too heavy.
nevertheless, i did a good job - with each round, i was able to improve my timing for about 1 second. now i need to work on my precision. and on my u-turns.
still a long way to go...

annotations:
yeah, you're right. this is supposed to be a vette blog. but you can't drive slaloms with a vette - they're too long, and their ground clearance is too low. so this is why i take my beemer for this.

slowing down

driving slow with a fast car is difficult - it's like practising self-control, or self-restraint. but whenever i take my dad for a ride, i have to slow down.
maybe it's a question of age...
to me, it's more like a question of attitude. i like going fast. i do talk fast, and i argue in a fast way. i even think that my brain is thinking fast (or at least i hope so, he he).
my dad is not lethargic, but fast driving makes him nervous.
hm...
well, i don't know how i am when i'm old.

i remember someone i knew, she said that slowing down can be nice once in a while.

today the sky was deep blue, the sun was shining, so we went for a ride to the rheingau region (the taunus was a no-no because of the dalai lama's visit). we stopped for lunch at johannisberg castle, a spot my father loves.
nice 'n slow, with windows wide open so that we could enjoy the fresh air (with a faint smell of burnt wood).
right now, it's "indian summer" in germany, if this term is applicable to a country like this...
we did a lot of talking.
we had a good time.

cup theory

today, i participated in two slalom contests - the 2nd and the 3rd ADAC* Slalom "Lahn-Dill" in Asslar, Federal State of Hessen, hosted by the AC (automobile club) wetzlar.
i started in the newcomers' class. and in the first contest, i came in last, because i lost track in the middle of the slalom course. but in the second one, i got the 2nd place!
here is my cup...


well... maybe it's just an empty cup.
but for me, it's my first "real", i.e. professional, slalom.
ka-chaow...!


*ADAC = german national automobile association

"...what can you see?"

"wonderful things..."
howard carter* is history, but his words are still up-to-date. at the 5th covette sunday in st. leon-rot, hosted by the corvette club kurpfalz, lots of wonderful cars could be seen. corvettes of nearly all generations were presented - from imported automobile treasures of the early years up to today's corvettes made for the european market. kids could marvel at them, people could talk to the owners, and the owners could have a chat and exchange information on major and minor technical problems. even the weather gods must have liked what they saw: despite of dark clouds, it didn't rain.

"cozy" is the wrong word, and i still don't know how to describe this feeling:
i just feel great among cars, especially beautiful cars such as corvettes, as if i'd belong there. i love it!
the following pictures can give only a feeble impression of the atmosphere there...

i met a lot of interesting people - including people i already knew from the corvette forum but had not met personally until now. and me and my baby fit in very well... this calls for a retake.


upper row: three nice asses and corvette colleagues of the rheinland-pfalz area
middle row: a beautiful '58 corvette and my baby
lower row: now you can imagine how crowded it was...

*he discovered Tut-Anch-Amun's tomb in 1922

cruisin'

sheer horsepower can be that beautiful...

404 modern horsepower

while i was taking a series of pictures, a group of horses crossed the street behind me.
welcome to the taunus! although being close to the outskirts of frankfurt city, this area is still a little bit laid back, and on weekends you still can see people on horseback.

10 - 12 traditional horsepower