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Hollywood has always had a relationship with speed, especially when some of the most iconic and popular stars have always had an affinity for great cars and bikes.
In "McQueen's Machines" by Matt Stone, we see the inside of a legendary icon of speed and the machines that he rode.
The description of the cars were detailed and accurate, something that regular gearheads would've expected from the Motor Trend author. His descriptions of the classic cars are technical as well as artistic.
Stone's description of the Ford Mustang GT Fastback used in Bullit, is enough for a car connoisseur to drool about the modifications to the Stock 390 engine. While Stone's own description of his drive in a replica down the same streets the famous chase happened is entertaining in itself.
The interesting aspect of the book is the film by film description of the famous movies that had a car or bike in it, giving the truth behind the stunts done in the films, and how McQueen had gotten around the studio's "no racing" clause that almost stopped him from racing for good.
Despite the articles about the cars that McQueen drove (including this author's favorite McQueen Machines, the 58 Porsche Speedster and the 57 Jaguar XK SS), the big points came when Stone reviewed McQueen's bikes. Despite his reputation as being a car man, McQueen was an avid bike racer and had even considered becoming a professional racer instead of becoming an actor. Stone covers the Indian Sport Scout, the Triumph Bonneville, and the others that McQueen owned in amazing life.
No matter what you ride, or what you race, all can agree that McQueen was the "King of Cool" and that his dedication to beautiful machines of speed still commands awe and respect even today.
Many recent books on bikes have either specialized in racing, or design and style. But Wasef's book "Legendary Motorcycles" is a combination of both.
Wasef's book uncovers the most popular and memorable bikes in motorcycle history, focusing on the legendary people who owned them, as well as the trend setting and technological marvels their bikes were, and still are.
Wasef jumps from every aspect of motorcycling, from leisure to sport. The research, and countless interviews that were needed to give perspective are impeccable and detailed. For the motorcycle-impaired, or those who are just getting into bikes, the book's technical explanations are simple and easy to follow.
But the book's true jewel is the story behind the most famous bikes in the world, owned or ridden by some of the most famous people in the world - Elvis Presley, Rollie Free, T.E. Lawrence, Evil Knievel, and this author's favorite story in the book, James Dean.
With it's beautiful color photos, and Captain America book jacket (what kind of a motorcycle book would this be if there wasn't something about the famous Easy Rider chopper !), "Legendary Motorcycles" is a great book for bikers and enthusiasts alike.
Hey guys !
I know it's been awhile, but I've been pretty busy.
I just wanted you guys to check out my friend's blog - http://thedirge.blogspot.com/
Dark Rob is a pal of mine and he can write a mean political analysis. So if you like dark humor and another look at politics, you should read up.
I'll write more soon and give you an update.
The book industry is a form of entertainment, and as such, should be regulated by parents. Society is more concerned with movies, television, and recently, video games than to even deal with monitoring books.
The excuse for parents is that reading stimulates their kids, and kids who like to read end up being smarter in life. So whatever they read, is okay with me...
But these are the same parents that when asked if they approve of bullying, would tell you that bullying is horrible and should be eliminated.
...so why are you allowing your fourteen year old girl to read a book that makes it look cool and intriguing ?
The book "Gossip Girl" by Cecily von Ziegesar, and all the other subsequent books that follow it, is one of the most influential book (and now television series) for teens and tweens at the moment.
It's also one of the most trashiest, misleading, and unrealistic view of teenage life.
To be popular you have to be rich, you have to live in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, you have to do drugs and have plenty of sex...this is starting to be one of the best teen books out there, already !
According to Barbara Coloroso, a parenting expert and author of The Bully, The Bullied, and the Bystandard (Harper Collins 2006, Toronto), gossip is a type of bullying that she calls Relational Bullying. She classifies this type as something that is associated with girls. Spreading gossip and secrets about others have the same effect as proactive or "traditional" bullying, but leave deeper scars and continue the cycle of bullies.
Bullying according to About.com, is a social weapon and a means of psychological warfare. It leads to a cycle that gains strength as it continues. Based on the article, I've interpreted the stages as so :
The first is the actual gossip, malicious rumors and stories targeted on one specific person or group. This moves onto labelling and name calling, fueling the original gossip, which then leads to ostracizing and alienation. Psychologically this all gets absorbed by the target, and eventually bleeds into his or her life later on. Some in dire consequences.
There have been cases of teens who have committed suicide or attempted to, because of gossip that has ruined their lives, and many of them have been traumatized all the way up to adulthood.
I don't think I have to remind everybody about Columbine and why the shooters did what they did...
And that is just based on the title...
On page 6 of the first book in the series "Gossip Girl", von Ziegesar gives a short description about the habits of her teenage characters. I won't quote the exact passage since I don't know it by heart, nor own a copy of the book. But this is roughly what was described. I paraphrase :
Blair's family took after the quasi-European take on alcohol. They believed that more exposure to alcohol would desensitize them to it, so they were allowed to drink whatever they wanted whenever they wanted as long as it didn't affect their image. The same thing went for drugs and sex...
No sane parent who cares about their child - and the parents seem to not really care about their offspring in the book - would ever give underage kids drinks without them being there to supervise. I live in a European based culture, and many Europeans don't condone massive underage drinking, despite what von Ziegesar has written.
In fact, this is a terrible stereotype that many Americans, who by the way have a really strict policy on drinking, use as an excuse to show that allowing vices can help kids be more mature and open. Von Ziegesar seems to imply that Europeans don't have any problems with alcoholism because they were exposed to it at a younger age.
Wake up !
Rampant illegal teenage drinking happens in every country and Europe is not excluded, so get that Upper East side mentality out of your brain....
To study this even further, I decided to visit the Gossip Girl website, and couldn't believe what von Ziegesar and the CW network was promoting for young teenage girls.
The poll question on the site asked -
The essential must have for Fall :
1. A designer handbag, of course
2. Cute boots !
3. A cashmere sweater...mmm
4. A hot guy on my arm !
Let's forget the last choice for a second.
The credit card debt in North America alone is a huge crisis.
Dave Ramsey has stated that 1 in 5 very young people will file bankruptcy because of outstanding credit card debt. Cases of suicide over financial debts have been rampant in the US, and all over the world because of the financial strain and difficulty in paying back debt.
MP Dunleavy from MSN Money has written in her article "How Teens Get Sucked Into Credit-Card Debt", that the average debt that young adults carry with them is $1585 US. And even though many teens have their parents sign for the card as the guarantor or co-owner of the card, it still does not stop debt from increasing among young people due to irresponsibility.
"Most kids can't hand in a paper on time, let alone pay a bill on time.." says Janet Bodnar, deputy editor of the Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. She believes that it's the lack of physical proof of purchase that causes major credit card debt.
"This is funny money to them. It's not real. It's a license to spend, and they're not learning how to manage money on their own." Bodnar continues.
Even with the new types of pre-paid credit cards, many have hidden fees and compromise a teenager's privacy by disclosing vital information to companies for further targeting later on.
Okay, so how does this apply to Gossip Girl ?
Designer handbags, boots, and cashmere sweaters - you tell me where I see the connection.
This just helps to sell the idea of needing these items to be like the girls in the book, and sells the idea of being rich and spending money. Even the message on the site left by Gossip Girl herself even talks about the "problems" of a diva princess when it came to buying stuff. (Paris Hilton's got nothing on Gossip Girl...)
Look, I know it's a work of fiction and that everybody is entitled to have some sort of escape from reality. But if this is the case, then at least show the negatives about everything. Don't try to spin a Romeo and Juliet rip off that somehow shows apparent character evolution when the main character sees the world in a different view since her trip to Europe (and now it begs me to wonder if this is semi-biographical...)
The bottom line is that von Ziegesar does not condone the crap of divaism and shallow appearances, but she does not oppose it and seems to glorify it, even though that was probably not her intention. Gossip Girl is directed at young teens who get impressions from the media, now more so than the generation ten - even twenty - years ago. This is a book trying to reach the young adults, but fails to even impress the real adults out there, the ones who have to deal with the taunting of their children, the spending to make them happy, and the unwanted problems of pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse.
...way to go, Gossip Girl, you just made Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan fashionable once again....
