Floom!

This will only make sense if you've been following the "Virgil Ohso" story arc of the daily Dick Tracy comic strip.

The Collected Works of Cuthbert

As always, please click to enlarge.

King Kong vs. Frog Blog!

Yesterday an image from the 1967 Toho classic, King Kong Escapes appeared on the world-famous Frog Blog. Being an insufferable Japanese monster fanatic, I commented about this photo on the GoComics.com page for the comic strip Frog Applause. Just moments ago, I am proud to say that the team of artists and writers responsible for Frog Blog updated that blog entry with a screen shot of my post and a still from 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla to illustrate the point I was making.

Check it out:

Frog Blog: King Kong Escapes

If I accomplish nothing else in my life, at least I have done this.

PS: Go here to enjoy the trailer for King Kong Escapes:

BetterStream.com

Jalopnik Used My Story Idea!!!!

I am very pleased to say that the automotive site Jalopnik has used a tip which I submitted to them and written the following cool article:

Sega Rally Fan Turns Car Into Videogame Star

Worst Online Car Ad Contest

I'm proud to report that my entry is one of the finalists in the following contest:

You Pick The Winner Of The Worst Online Car Listing Contest!

Mine is entry number two. Be sure to click "full size" so you'll be able to actually read it!

Gringo Kraptastrophe!

It has come to my attention that a Brazilian Web site called News Errado has republished one of my previous blog entries! Check it out:

News Errado

Either Google's translation tool leaves something to be desired, or they're calling me a gringo!

Which is fine. You can pretty much call me anything you want as long as you include a link to my blog.

;-)

Badge Engineering

Recently spied in San Francisco:
















At first glance, this Scion XB in BMW clothes would appear to be the epitome of rice: A cheap, Japanese car festooned with badges and styling elements from a much more prestigious, better-performing make and/or model.

However, I have to give this car's owner some credit, because it appears to be more of a rolling sight gag than an attempt to disingenuously elevate the status of the vehicle or its driver. In fact, it is a rather well-executed gag. Any fool can glue a BMW badge to a Scion, but who takes the time, or has the skill, to retrofit the twin-kidney BMW grille, or to acquire genuine BMW rims and make sure they fit properly?

I do find it curious that this car's front end wears a Mini emblem, whereas the rear carries the badge of an entirely different model, the 2.5ix.

The Mini badge is interesting in that Mini is actually a separate marque owned by BMW, as opposed to being simply a BMW model. But never mind. The overall effect is rather whimsical. Unlike so many of the customized look-at-me cars out there, here's one that doesn't take itself too seriously. I like that.