Red

Gymkhana

Speed + Precision Drifting = Ken Block is a sick, sick driver.

A Well-Suited Man...

Edward C. Gauvreau surveying 40 calling cards from businessmen in one day. April 1948, Washington, DC. Francis Miller. LIFE Magazine.



I started employment on a new job last week that carries with it a snazzy position title, and today I had to oversee the final edits to the business card.

Allow me to restate that salient point: MY BUSINESS CARD. A prospect thrilling enough all by itself, if it weren't for the fact that I was unemployed for a year and a half. Yeah, ouch. But, I began to think about the underlying meaning of this little 3 X 2 piece of weighted paper. Definitely one of the oft overlooked tools of the modern day business trade.

My new position will take me, literally, across the globe. With a firm handshake and a slight flip of the wrist my contact info will be distributed to the world.

I was curious about the history of business cards and fished around on the web to find suitable info. I found this:

In European Society:

...with the rise of the middle class during the Industrial Revolution and an overall lessening of social formality, a class of private entrepreneurs emerged in both Europe and the United States that had a constant need to exchange contact information...these were handed out widely at presentations and exhibitions but were looked upon with disdain by members of the upper class.

In the United States:

In the United States, however, business card use became widespread in the 1890s (the so-called age of the Captains of Industry or "robber barons") and the cards achieved their current level of ubiquity by the early 20th century.

Modern Business Card Etiquette and Format:

...Cards should not be carried loose but in appropriate card cases and should be maintained in pristine condition. The general rule of thumb is that the card should be presented in the condition in which the owner himself would appear for a high level business meeting -- immaculate and behaving according to the manners of the host nation.


That last bit is important. I am now on the search for a slick new card carrying case. Preferably something with vintage appeal. A well-suited man always needs...

Original Design © Copyright Cosmic Firefly. Via Etsy.

Original Design © Copyright Cosmic Firefly.

A bit too intricate for my purpose. But, you get the point. Via.

Not suitable for ALL businesses, but a conversation starter for sure. Via.

Fliegender Bleistift: "The Flying Pencil"

Dornier 17s on Patrol in Poland. Bundesarchiv, Bild. Spieth. Summer 1940.


Chalk this one up to amazing finds. Literally.

“At 1142 hours, 264 Squadron was ordered to take off and patrol Dover, to intercept enemy bombers.”

The report neatly summarizes the encounter, listing six enemy Dornier 17 bombers and one Me-109 fighter destroyed, to three Defiants lost on the British side. The details state that one Do-17 was “…damaged. Broke formation—smoking from both engines.” It is believed that this is the airplane that made a forced landing in an area of the English Channel called Goodwin Sands at low tide, shortly before 2 p.m. that afternoon. Read the original combat report.

A sonar side-scan image of a Dornier 17 that has been on the bottom of the English Channel for 70 years. Courtesy: RAF Museum.

Read the rest of the article on the EAA Website.

Deus Bali

With a passion for surf, motorcycles, and life, the guys over at Deus Bali are the real deal.

Fixed Gears and Mag Wheels: The 1980s BMX Craze

When I was a kid I loved bikes. Really, what kid doesn't? Afterall, a boy's first wheels are his ticket to the world. I received my first Schwinn on my fifth birthday (training wheels and all) and it still stands as the greatest gift of all time. So much so that I have it to this day. It may be a little dinged up, rusty, and missing the chrome fenders, but I'm never letting it go.

Let's be honest though. I grew out of that first bike pretty quickly. As the Bicycle MotoCross (BMX) sport became increasingly popular during the early to mid 1980s, kids around the country were putting their regular bikes through hell trying to pull off that perfect wheelie, pogo, bunny hop, and curb endo. You'd find makeshift ramps popping up in every cul-de-sac with kids launching themselves all over the damn neighborhood. It became a boy's right of passage if he could pull off any number of these street skills; even more so if it were performed on a shiny new chromed-out BMX bike with fixed gears and mag wheels. I had two of them.

I couldn't tell you any of the popular riders back in the day. I didn't watch the events or read the mags. All I know is that I can think of no better way to spend a Saturday than curb hopping my way across town, racing friends, and laughing all the way.

SoBe

The Clevelander

The Ocean Five

The Avalon

Buick 1

Buick 2

The 11th Street Diner

Metropole - The Jersey Shore Season 2 Cast House