Funkengroovin Wednesday - Two-tone Madness

Blog subject today: Two-toned bugs. They seem to be the new rage here, and VB keeps bumping into them, wherever she goes. Photos should be self explanatory.

Below: Maadi



Below: The Khan (Souk, Market, Bazaar)



Below: Car chase in Maadi


Below: Maadi







A Somewhat Perverse(?) Assortment of
NEWS:

VB says, "keep these creeps away from my baby!" ('65 VW Beetle Convertible)
VIDEO: Man Who Makes Love With Cars

Article from JAVNO:
"A man who claimed he had a sexual intercourse with over 1,000 automobiles, now defends his romantic feelings towards cars, the Telegraph reports.

Edward Smith, who lives with his current “girlfriend” – a white Volkswagen beetle he calls Vanilla – is persistent in his belief that he is not mentally sick, and he does not show any wish of changing his lifestyle."
There's more: Documentary Of The Week My Car Is My Lover Wednesday, 5, 10pm
"We also meet Jordan, a 20-year-old who lives nearly 2,000 miles away, in Missouri and also expresses his feelings through music.
Like Edward, he also caught the love bug when he fell for a classic VW Beetle."
And more: Man who's had sex with 1000 cars gives new meaning to auto-erotic, and more, The man who has sex with cars, and possibly the original article all others refer to: Man admits having sex with 1,000 cars, "My Car Is My Lover is on Five on Wednesday, May 28."

Sorry Beck's, but Saying 'Different by CHOICE!' Doesn't Make it So (Video and more information.)
"To draw attention away from its absence of a sound position in the beer market (unless "favorited beer of the band 'Black Label Society'" counts), Beck's tries wearing the message "Different by Choice."

This new spot -- produced by Anonymous for agency Lowe Worldwide & Partners -- compares the mediocre green beer to avant-garde painters, punk rockers and the VW bug, among other subversive cultural icons."


Two pals start their own ‘Meals On Wheels’
"...Jeff’s wife, Elizabeth, owned a ‘71 Volkswagen Super Beetle when they married in 1986. Jeff had told her he would restore the car. “Taking it apart is the easy part,” he says. “Getting it back to brand-new is the really long and hard and arduous part.” Over the years, there were a lot of distractions...."

"In 2004, Jeff, 53, bought a huge homemade grill — a converted 275-gallon recycled fuel oil tank — to indulge in one of his other passions: barbecuing. He was pondering how to move the grill when his eye landed on the new chassis he had bought for the Volkswagen. Once he had installed the grill in the Beetle shell, he had not only saved himself from “the humiliating defeat of junking the car I couldn’t finish,” he also had a proposal for a new business with a catchy name: Carbecue...." (More information at the link, but sadly, no photos.)

Vroom to spare
"TILTON – For hot rod and custom car enthusiasts, the sixth annual Laconia Custom Nationals, which has drawn more than 600 entries to Gunstock Ski Area in Gilford, is a chance to share their passion with like-minded people and swap shop notes on what's happening in their retro world."

"Moe Camire, 70, of Chelmsford, Mass., brought along a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he spent hundreds of hours restoring over the past 15 years." (Photo and more info at the link.)

Volkswagen Cuts Karmann from 2010 Golf Convertible product

Plug 'er in and drive away
"FOR the sake of the environment Ric Smith is using his 20 years of mechanical experience to change his red VW into an electric car."

Volkswagen Bus; It was as loveable as it was slow and it set the tone for all the minivans that would follow
"Chrysler's minivan might have struck with more ferocity in 1984, but Volkswagen got the wheels rolling decades earlier and for different reasons." (Full article at the link.)

Business in Maidenhead, Connexions Berkshire
"Connexions Berkshire has recently taken delivery of its first branded vehicle, a mini replica of an original VW Camper. Based on the Subaru Samba, the van is branded in the Connexions colours and logo." (Photo at the link.)

Festivals and children – It doesn’t have to be torture
“Every year more and more people are taking our vans to festivals because they’re a really civilised way of coping where facilities are often pretty basic. Festival rentals have trebled since 2004 and Glastonbury weekend was fully booked six months ago, so it really has been a huge growth area for us.” (More info and a photo at the link.)


The music video is somewhat of a lucky find for VB, and coincidental at that. Last week VB, and The Boss Man, watched an excellent movie about the 1980's skinhead movement in the UK, This Is England. As VB was looking for an appropriate music video, she plugged in "two tone" for a search. She then came up with, among other things (like two-toned painted fingernails,) a music movement called 2 Tone, which became popular with UK skinheads during the 1980's.
From Wiki: "The music term 2 Tone was coined by Jerry Dammers of The Specials, who has said he came up with the idea because he liked the black-and-white check pattern on his scooter when he was a young mod.[citation needed]However, many people think the name refers to black-and-white outfits worn by rude boys and skinheads — and to unity between black people and whites."

Evolucion Reggae - 2Tone The Special & Madness

More Road Trips, Road Food, and TV coming (VB has been procrastinating.)

Funkengroovin Wednesday- 21 Days Till Christmas

Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? Looking for that special gift, for that special person, like say, Vagabondblogger? Well, look no more. Here are a few places where you can find that perfect gift for your Funkengroovin love.

Below: Pink Bug ornament from Pier 1. VB found this at the store, but could not locate on the Pier 1 Internet site.



Perhaps you would like this "eclectic treasure," from goantigues.com." Place your bid anywhere from $2,750.00-$4,000.00 (replacement value $9,569.00.)



goantiques.com also has model cars, ads, and an assortment of miscellanea for the VW lover. VB personally likes the ad below, available for $7.00. It's different.




Or, also from goantigues, VB's favorite -  (Love that skirt!)



More ornaments, Christmas items, gifts and cards here;

TheSamba.com
Has Bug ornaments, VW Christmas cards, and an assortment of vintage gifts.

ebay has ornaments and accessories galore.

Automania Specialties.com has Christmas Cards for a variety of car models, including VW Bugs and one for a Bus.

From autoblog: eBay Find of the Day: VW Toaster Van


THE NEWS (covering what VB omitted last week.)

VW minibus an enduring classic with a feel for real surfer culture

In a 40-year-old split-screen VW minibus, anything over the 55mph limit is a terrifying mix of adrenalin, absent brakes and meandering steering. For six decades the VW minibus has been the machine of choice for California surfers, globe-trotting Australians, rock’n’roll stars such as The Who’s Pete Townshend, and TV chef Jamie Oliver. This year it celebrates its 60th birthday.

2009 Volkswagen Minivan - Auto Shows

A new Volkswagen minivan, to be unveiled for the first time in February at the 2008 Chicago auto show, will be VW’s second-largest-volume vehicle in the U.S., says Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volkswagen of America.

The VW minivan is based on the fifth generation of Chrysler minivans, the 2008 Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan, which are on a platform known as RT. The deal between VW and the former DaimlerChrysler was reached two years ago, when VW had Chrysler alumni Wolfgang Bernhard in its executive suite. Since then, DC broke apart and Bernhard left VW, but work on the VW minivan continued.

Get the tissues out for Hidden wallet uncovers sad story:

Guys who love old cars love knowing the provenance of the vehicle as much as the specs. A clue to the van's back story was hidden under a back seat, revealed during prep work for reupholstering.

There, among dust, rust and candy wrappers, was a wallet. There wasn't much inside, no money, just some pictures of a girl, some military ID papers and a Nevada driver's license with a profile picture of a blue-eyed man too young to have the full-face photo. His name was Michael Reid.

From autoblog: Essen 2007: Phantoms inhabit VW

Artist William Burge has found a way to artfully reattach all of the little pieces that have fallen off his 1968 Volkswagen Beetle.

Tweety to Auction VW Bug to benefit JFC

Tweety Fine Jewelry, the brand which bills itself as a provider of "fine jewelry for hot chicks" and takes its identity from the Looney Tunes cartoon character, is auctioning off a one-of-a-kind VW Bug, appropriately bejeweled and with Tweety-yellow flare, to benefit Jewelers for Children. The custom built car with blue and white leather interior and sparkling details is valued at more than $60,000.

The Tweety VW Bug auction is being held online and can be accessed at www.TweetyFineJewelry.com. The auction closes on Feb. 15, 2008, at 12:01a.m.

Classic Cars: Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

By contrast, few VW fans ever considered the Karmann Ghia to be a sports car, but, as a tourer, it had few peers. The Ghia coachwork was some of the purest of the decade; it also offered comfort for two and the reliability of the Beetle. During its 18-year production run, nearly half a million buyers considered these to be more important attributes than out-and-out performance.

Volkswagen drivers wanted

Nothing highlighted the hippie nature of the occasion more brightly than a restored Kombi/Transporter Type 2 van, body-painted with the very livery of Fillmore, the environment-friendly character in Cars. There was a Country Buggy, or Sakbayan, in nearly mint condition. About three car lengths from it sat a Type 181 wagon, more popularly known worldwide as the Thing. Of course, there were the countless Beetles and a handful of Karmann Ghias and Brasilias. To say that Filipinos have a sentimental love affair with the Volkswagen brand is to point out the obvious.

Elderly Beetle puts Porsche to shame

DRIVING a 42-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, Bournemouth's Martin Greaves beat all on the drag strip at Santa Pod.

Alaska trio tries rugged Baja race

Alaskans Patric, Kolt and Kash Bell participated in the 40th running of the Tecate Score Baja 1,000 -- some 32 years after their father Pat Bell did the race in 1975, driving a stock Volkswagen Beetle.

The race from Ensenada, Mexico, to Cabo San Lucas crosses mountains, desert and beachfront. Some competitors drive stock VW Beetles, others race $2 million trucks.

Before a bum clutch forced the Alaskans to scratch, they traveled 147 miles.

The Baja 1,000 is expected be aired on NBC in late December. The Bells hope to race the Best In The Desert race series next year.

A tribute to the humble Volkswagen

Or if I was alone, I would just park it on a hill. Those were the days. But in the snow, until front-wheel drive came along, nothing could beat a VW. There is an old TV commercial I’ll never forget. It’s dark and snowing a blizzard. All you see are headlights moving through the pouring snow. After a bit a voice says, “Ever wonder how the guy who runs the snowplow gets to the snowplow?” Then the camera pulls back and shows a lone VW Beetle tooling along in the blizzard.

Volkswagon Type 2

Lately we have reviewed some of the worlds most expensive super cars, The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 and the Lamborghini Reventon to be precise. This week we will have a look at something more affordable, the Volkswagen Type 2 which is generally referred to as the "Transporter". The phrase "Volks wagen" which is German for people carrier was the name given to the company who are the forerunners for today's people carriers.

It's been a little difficult for VB to concentrate on the blog while training the new pup, Lotus, and trying to Christmas shop, and all that other stuff that goes along with the holiday. So, here's one of The Boss Man's favorite songs. Quite appropriate, except VB doesn't really have anyone to talk to right now, except for Lotus, who isn't exactly always in listening mode (a major problem with these independent minded Springer Spaniels.)

Mose Allison - Your Mind's On Vacation

Note: There have been problems with Blogger's photos, so VB's last post is messed up. VB will try to reload the photos for easier viewing in a few days.

Weekend News Roundup - "Egypt really is a logic-free zone"

EGYPT:
In the desert, where nothing really matters, and everything matters

"Egypt really is a logic-free zone," said Amr Shannon, the desert guide whose five-car caravan was released after an officer finally acknowledged the obvious.

"When you go to the sea, you get prepared; you will pack your towel, your bathing suit," he said in an interview in his apartment. "When you go skiing, you pack skis. Now you are coming to Egypt; get prepared for it as well. If you expect logic to prevail, you will find your intelligence insulted 200 times a day."

Reptile Smuggler Caught at Cairo Airport

Over the weekend, the Cairo airport police confiscated an entire suitcase packed with "at least" 250 baby crocodiles, chameleons, and snakes -- including (again, at least) one cobra. The passenger, a 22-year-old man from Saudi Arabia, claimed he had no idea it was illegal to bring reptiles in an ordinary suitcase on a commercial flight, adding that he was bringing the specimens to a Saudi university for experiments.

Egyptian woman held for female circumcision

CAIRO - Egyptian police are holding a woman who conducted a near-fatal circumcision on a young girl, a widely-condemned practice the authorities are trying to stamp out, the press reported on Friday.


The victim, Naglaa Khamis, went into a coma and suffered severe haemorrhaging after the removal of part of her genitals, but was saved after being taken to hospital by her parents.

Police took the woman who carried out the mutilation in Minya, south of Cairo, into custody.

Female circumcision can cause death through haemorrhaging and later complications during childbirth. It also carries risks of infection, urinary tract problems and mental trauma.

Religious leaders, usually silent on taboos relating to female sexuality, have also started to speak out against the practice, which many Egyptians believe is a duty under Islam and Christianity.

Egyptian girl dies during female circumcision

CAIRO -- A 13-year-old Egyptian girl has died during an illegal operation to mutilate her genitalia, the Al Masri Al Yom daily reported Saturday.

A government survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97 percent of the country's women aged between 15 and 45 years of age.

Religious leaders, usually silent on taboos relating to female sexuality, have also started to speak out against the practice, which many Egyptians believe is a duty under Islam and Christianity.

After the death of Shaker, chief mufti Ali Gomaa declared female circumcision forbidden under Islam.

Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the sheikh of Al Azhar university, the top Sunni Muslim authority, and Coptic Patriarch Chenouda III also declared it had "no foundation in the religious texts" of either Islam or Christianity.

SKYPE:
Last week I mentioned using Skype in a post about the new FISA (USA) wiretap law. Here's another way to use Skype: Learn a foreign language – over the Web

"Students are having these conversations all hours of the day and night outside of class," says Professor Sawhill. Her students have spoken in Arabic to their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and in Spanish with students in Mexico. (Webcams are optional at Oberlin.)

Instructors say the conversations often spark students' interest in international issues, which they see as important at a time when Americans are accused of not being interested in the rest of the world.

Instructors like Coffey say language exchanges via Skype have the potential to fling wide OPEN the doors of cross-cultural communication.

"What's happening now is that people are just getting their feet wet," she says. "As time goes on, just like e-mail, this will be at the forefront of all of our methodologies."

CENSORSHIP:

Backlash Over Book on Policy for Israel

“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” is not even in bookstores, but already anxieties have surfaced about the backlash it is stirring.

“Now that the cold war is over, Israel has become a strategic liability for the United States,” they write. “Yet no aspiring politician is going to say so in public or even raise the possibility” because the pro-Israel lobby is so powerful. They credit the lobby with shutting down talks with Syria and with moderates in Iran, preventing the United States from condemning Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon and with not pushing the Israelis hard enough to come to an agreement with the Palestinians. They also discuss Christian Zionists and the issue of dual loyalty.
“One of the points we make in the book is that this is a subject that’s very hard to talk about,” Mr. Walt said in an interview from his office in Cambridge. “Organizations, no matter how strong their commitment to free speech, don’t want to schedule something that’s likely to cause controversy.”

Overall Mr. Mearsheimer said he thinks the response to their views will be “less ferocious than last time, because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make the argument in a convincing way that anyone who criticizes the lobby or Israel is an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew.” Both Mr. Mearsheimer and Mr. Walt pointed to the growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, criticism of Israel’s war in Lebanon and the publication of former President Jimmy Carter’s book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” as making it somewhat easier to criticize Israel openly.

CIA, FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits

The changes may violate Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest guidelines, a spokeswoman for the site said on Thursday.

The program, WikiScanner, was developed by Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and posted this month on a Web site that was quickly overwhelmed with searches.

The program allows users to track the source of computers used to make changes to the popular Internet encyclopedia where anyone can submit and edit entries.

It violates Wikipedia's neutrality guidelines for a person with close ties to an issue to contribute to an entry about it, said spokeswoman Sandy Ordonez of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's parent organization.

However, she said, "Wikipedia is self-correcting," meaning misleading entries can be quickly revised by another editor. She said Wikimedia welcomed the WikiScanner.

WikiScanner can be found at wikiscanner.virgil.gr/

Who else has been editing information related specifically to them thus creating a conflict of interest? FOX News.

ENERGY:
China, Filling a Void, Drills for Riches in Chad

China is investing heavily in poor African countries like Chad, raising Western concerns.

To some critics, the answer is clear. “China’s no-strings-attached approach is problematic, particularly if its effect, if not its intent, is to undermine others’ efforts to change situations on the ground,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Often what is happening,” he added, “is underwriting of repression.”

But Limassou Saleh, a community organizer in Bongor, said he was deeply skeptical. “Chad is maybe the most corrupt country in the world,” Mr. Saleh said. “We have a long history of human rights violations, of lack of transparency, of exploitation. China has a reputation for corruption. They are one of the worst human rights abusers. They have no record of transparency. What would we want with a country like that? Only to make our own problems worse.”

Murray's Illinois mine has 2,787 violations since 2005

Crandall Canyon mine owner Robert Murray is fond of saying he cares deeply for his workers and "takes their safety to bed every night."
But his record at one Illinois mine in particular might cause some lost sleep.
Murray's Galatia mine in southern Illinois racked up at least 2,787 violations and more than $2.4 million in proposed fines from the Mine Safety and Health Administration over a two-year span, according to government records. That includes more than $1.4 million in proposed fines already this year.

In June, in a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Murray angrily defended his company's safety record when it was challenged by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
"My employees are important to me and I take their safety to bed every night," Murray said, waving his finger at Boxer. "My safety record today is one of the best in the coal industry."

How did Robert Murray, the owner of Murray Energy get away with so many violations while the government turned a blind eye? From the Saturday Gazette-Mail, a West Virginia Newspaper:

Along the way, Murray has also become a major political player. Murray Energy ranks among the coal industry’s major donors to federal candidates. Since 1996, Murray has contributed nearly $1 million, most of it to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Murray has also not hesitated to make use of those political connections.

In May 2002, two U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration officials were transferred after they clashed with Murray over inspections at the company's Maple Creek Mine in western Pennsylvania.

Later, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported that Murray warned MSHA officials in Morgantown that the same thing would happen to them if they didn't let up on inspections at his Powhatan No. 6 Mine in Belmont County, Ohio.

"Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and the last I checked, he was sleeping with your boss,” Murray told the MSHA officials, according to meeting notes cited by public broadcasting. McConnell, a Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky, is married to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, whose department includes MSHA.

After that meeting with Murray, MSHA Morgantown district manager Tim Thompson was transferred.

This song came out in 198 when Number One Son wasn't even born, yet. He's now a sophmore in college, taking a semester off to intern with a political campaign. He's nineteen, and the song is twenty years old. The message still rings true. Great video, except some ass in the audience is waving a BP flag. I wonder if Little Lord Brown took a trip to Sweden with one of his rent-a-boys and attended this concert. Big Robert Murray says about his workers that he, "takes their safety to bed every night."

Really, I don't know how these people can sleep, much less live with themselves.

Midnight Oil - Beds are burning live Hultsfred -94

Weekend News Roundup - Prelude

A song that has become a favorite of mine, recorded by Johnny Cash, before his death. No video of him singing it (at least none so far,) and several interpretations of it on YouTube.

In German, this video is titled Der Sinn des Lebens? (The Sins of Life?)
Great debate on the actual YouTube page about Armageddon. I'm not personally into that, but I do think the German title describes what my mom always said, "What goes around, comes around," and how we conduct ourselves as human beings.

BTW, check out the WWI video version of this song too. 'The War To End All Wars" ended up being the beginning of most, if not all, of the conflicts during the Twentieth Century, and continuing on to this day.


johnny cash (when the man comes around)

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Special Bonnaroo Edition

Everybody has an opinion!

Earlier today after publishing my blog, I got phone calls and e-mails telling me what I should and should not put on my blog. After consulting with my attorney, who not only wanted me to revise my blog, but also decided that he could dictate to me what to publish, I did some editing. I can take constructive criticism, but personally, I think it's censorship! A bunch of hooey! Btw, I cut the legal eagle off, with respect to their critique. Let me add that one of these nosey people actually deleted a whole blog I had written, when they were reading it on my computer. I have no clue what they did. All they said was, "I don't know what happened! I didn't do anything!"


So, to all those who think mi blog es su blog - go get your own fucking blog!

Here's a cropped version of one of the photos I removed and I've added more of the scenes at Bonnaroo, at the insistence of the above mentioned buttinskies, with Sting and the Police and the lead guitarist from Fountains of Wayne smoking, having his hair blown by an electrical fan (as opposed to a fan from the audience), and (it's said) drinking a beer during the concert, though not visible in the photo (gee, that's soo cool, maan).


A big thank-you to Number One Son for all the photos for this week's Funkengroovin' Wednesday! I have to give him credit. I've looked at his photos of the campsite, over and over again, and it looks pretty damn cool. The Spaghettios, not something I would personally go with, but still pretty smart. He says the food is expensive - let's face it - it's probably a big rip-off (they take away your $2.00 propane canisters, and sell them, in the grounds, for $7.00) but probably an enjoyable one. Being able to get by on Spaghettios for four days, no bath and using pretty crappy port-o-potties has to be strain and somewhat of a learning experience. Bonnaroo is a business, and as in all businesses, they're out to make a buck. 'Nough said. (I don't want anymore calls from the censorship committee.)


The last photo of the sunset over the campgrounds is really nice and if you look closely to the right you can see an orange VW Bus.

Loading Up (cropped):

Funkengroovin Wednesday

This is what happens when you start digitizing old photos. You find the strangest things, including an aunt standing by a VW Bug sometime around 1980. This was taken with a Canon half frame camera with a rotary lens. For those of you who've never heard of this, for each frame you get one photo with a 35 mm camera, which gets you two with the half frame camera. It's virtually a two for one fest. It's called a Canon Dial 35 and was 28 mm, which I received from my godfather, who worked for Canon Camera in Chicago. I understand it's quite a collector's item. Unfortunately, because the negatives are smaller, they don't produce quality photos, but really, do we rate our memories on quality? Isn't it just nice to get these old photos developed and find the surprises.

Vrrrooom! Whahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift does it take to build a car?
Ever wonder how a car is made? Today we visit a manufacturing plant to learn the first steps. Part 1 of two.

Belvidere, Ill. - By the time you finish reading this article, seven more Dodge Calibers will be built at the Chrysler Assembly Plant in Belvidere. That's one completed every 42 seconds. Not bad considering that just 19 hours earlier, each car was little more than steel and roughly 1,800 different parts.

A slide show explains the whole process.


Now for some photos from Bonaroo , taken by Number One Son:














Loading up the Van:

























On The Road:




























Setting Up Camp:

Number One Son went to Bonnaroo with several friends. They put large orange circles on the car windshields to show that they have been searched. No glass, no propane, no alcohol for underage visitors, etc. The young man, Cody, in the tent next to Number One Son's contingent apparently went to sleep in his tent. This would be Thursday. Friday someone came around looking for water. Number One Son said they were depleting theirs rapidly due to the heat and couldn't help the guy. So he went to Cody's tent, unzipped it and found the young man flailing his arms and blue lips. Medics were called and Cody was pronounced dead at the hospital. Here's a news article.

Dinner: Warming-up cans of Spaghettios.

In case you're wondering what's up with the windshield wipers, well they broke. The driver's side wiper just out and out, broke. It needs a new arm. Number One Son, set the passenger side wiper to cover the whole windshield, so it's propped up in an odd way in order to make it work.
Good thinking Number One Son!





















Other Vans at Bonnaroo:

















































The End

Funkengroovin Wednesday

Two cars from the 60's (we think): A Bay Window VW Bus and look ma - no rooftop carrier! And a Mercedes, we suspect is from the same era. Anyone know better, please let us know.

VW's Home Town Finds Ways to Cope With Globalization

For most of its history, Wolfsburg has prospered greatly from globalization. The city was founded in 1938 on Adolf Hitler's orders with a mission to manufacture an affordable "people's car." Although Wolfsburg was bombed heavily during the war, it soon revived and Volkswagen churned out millions of Beetles, exporting them to every continent except Antarctica.







That record has bred confidence among some longtime employees that Volkswagen will never abandon Wolfsburg, no matter how unstable the global auto industry becomes.
Wilhelm Blum, 56, a Volkswagen employee who develops transmission and gear designs, shrugged off the recent experiences of U.S. auto companies. Ford and General Motors have posted billions of dollars in losses in recent years, while Chrysler, part of a conglomerate with Germany's Daimler group, was sold last month to a hedge fund.
"VW was here before the war and it will still be here 100 years from now," Blum said while drinking beers with friends at a bar outside Volkswagen's sprawling factory in the center of Wolfsburg. "That's different from Chrysler. Chrysler's dead. It just doesn't know it yet."
"We cannot blame globalization for all our economic problems," Busse said. "And we can't forget how much we benefited from globalization in the years after the Second World War."
Meantime, civic leaders in Wolfsburg are stepping up efforts to diversify the local economy, just in case.
The city has built a new sports stadium and a $100 million science museum to attract tourists. It's also created a public-private partnership with Volkswagen to nurture businesses, many of them unrelated to the auto industry. The partnership, known as Wolfsburg AG, has even recruited Chinese firms that serve as suppliers to Volkswagen, offering cultural exchanges and Chinese language courses to the locals.








"We have local people who tell us we're bringing in the competition to their home," said Henning Eckel, one of Wolfsburg AG's board members. "But it's necessary. They're coming anyway, and we need to be prepared."

533,000 Miles and It Runs Like a Top , By JOSEPH SIANO, Published: June 3, 2007

Owners of vehicles that have reached 200,000, 400,000 and even 500,000 miles all seem to have pet strategies to extend the lives of their cars.
“The commonality I’ve seen among people who drive cars 300,000 or more miles is that they do their own service on the car,” he said. “That way, you know the oil has been changed and it’s changed right.”
Automobile repair experts said that while using the right oil and changing it frequently were vital for a car to last that long, little things also help. Michael Florence, a co-author of “The Everything Car Care Book” (Adams Media), said that owners should heed service recommendations and other tips found in their car’s owner’s manual.
“Any part of the car that’s supported by lubrication or has fluid in it should be carefully maintained,” said Mr. Florence, an auto mechanic who lives in Flemingsburg, Ky. “Like the brake system. The fluid should be changed every two years because it helps stop corrosion.”
Mr. Faeth, who has the Mercedes with 400,000 miles on it, takes oil changes very seriously. He recommended that owners who want their cars to last should get a chemical analysis of their used engine oil. The analysis could turn up metal particles and show areas of excessive wear. That knowledge helps determine the optimum grade and formulation of the oil the car needs.
Mr. Faeth uses the Oil Analysis Company (youroil.net) of Chester, Va. “Originally, I had hoped to keep it until I got a million miles on it,” Mr. Faeth said about his Mercedes, but he isn’t sure the body will last. “So I’m hoping for one million kilometers.” That would be 620,000 miles.

This Sunday is the final episode of the Sopranos. A show we have not been able to watch here in Cairo, but a family member is taping it for us. I will be back in the States, just in time to see the finale. Boss Man and I have been reading spoilers and updates to figure out what's up and what might happen. I'll miss everyone in the family, but I'll just end up watching it, over and over again on DVD. I have heard that this past season has had some of the best episodes. I'm waiting with baited breath for the DVD!

So in tribute to a great show, here's Slash playing a solo of the Godfather Theme:


I was thinking about putting Funkengroovin Wednesday on hiatus for a week, until Number One Son returns from Bonnaroo with our '87 Camper Van and photos of all the other VW Vans he spots. But then I went to dinner at Max's, in Maadi Gedida, and found a few VW Bugs that were pretty interesting, so I'll post them and whatever else I find, before I leave Cairo in next week's Funkengroovin Wednesday. Check out the New York Times article, 533,000 Miles and It Runs Like A Top, that I linked above - that has got to have a clue to it about how the Egyptians keep these old cars running. After what I've seen (and not been able to take pictures of because the camera I'm using has such a lag and totally piss poor flash) I think "Pimp My Ride" would be a number 1 hit show here.

Btw, only 3 days till I get my new camera and turn in my Nikon D70 for repair. No more crappy photos!!!!

Funkengroovin Wednesday

No dog on a car this week. Just looks like someone loaded up practically his whole house on top of a Fiat.













Air-cooled Vanagon on Road 9.





































Red bug for sale.


















Nice Eggplant colored Bug, seen here, now has company.














These were offered up previously, as individual photos, when Number One Son was visiting. This is what they look like together. Actually the details are on my flickr page.














A Fiat 500 (for sale) on Road 9













More Cairo Delivery Options:
Mermaid (Italian Restaurant)














Dry Cleaning:


















Gold party chairs:









Since it looks like there's a lot of partying going on, here in Maadi, and in tribute to an album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, released 40 years ago on June 2, 1967 in the U.S. I'd like to celebrate with: The Beatles