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August 05, 2005
now we are in louisville
i bought into this whole idea that the drive was going to take 8 and a half hours because that's what mapquest said.
it was more like twelve, but i'll be quick to add that it wasn't really that horrible of a drive. i've done twelve-hour drives completely solo and having someone to talk to on the radio and at lunch really makes a huge difference. as sarah put it, it's the best of driving alone with the best of driving with someone.
when we arrived at the cinderblock drive-in-- an art gallery in louisville set up as a drive-in for the evening-- we were both pretty fried. i was startled to be mobbed by people wanting to discuss biodiesel (oh, the irony), but these were all fairly clueful people so the conversations were actually kind of enjoyable.
i was kind of amazed at how friendly people were. i'm accoustomed to going unnoticed at social events, especially when i'm completely fried and exhausted, but i found myself talking to a lot of people last night. one of whom, as it turns out, recently read this blog.
lots of questions about the webcams (which i ran during the drive-in event), and even a few about spacepod's aesthetics. in a lot full of art cars, i was surprised to find that spacepod garnered any attention.
in fact, there was one guy who came up and asked me what was up with the luggage rack. "What's up with that??" this resulted in a fairly interesting (if longwinded and one-sided) conversation about how he thinks the new beetle looks like a bloated, sick baby, but that the modifications i've done give it a "tactility" that it needs. he then launched into a discussion of how he wants new cars to feel like old cars when you touch them, though i couldn't get a very clear idea of what an old car is supposed to feel like. sarah got several pictures of him-- she thinks he was probably drunk. at the time i figured he was pretty much just a crazy southern pretentious art guy, but i think sarah's probably right. he was a drunk crazy southern pretentious art guy.
there was another guy who didn't have an art car; he was there with his cousin, who does. he said something like, "if i had a second vehicle, i'd make it an art car," and sarah was quick to point out that one doesn't need a second vehicle; an art car can be a daily driver. "What do you drive?" I asked him. He pointed out a... oh, get this, a plain white minivan. i had to laugh. "Don't come to an art car event with a plain white van!!" heh.
i got to see "wild wheels", a documentary about art cars by harrod blank. they also ran several old car commercials from the sixties-- mostly vw beetle commercials, actually, which i really enjoyed a chance to see. and a mini-docu on the making of various tv cars, like the batmobile and the munsters car. that was the point at which sarah and i decided we couldn't stay a minute longer. they were starting up "repo man", which we both love, so it was sad to leave but we were both beyond exhausted.
the hotel room, i have to say, is pretty priceless. the decor has clearly not changed since the early 70's. i'll definitely be getting some photos before we leave it (today we're moving to a different room so we can get internet access in the room, and it'll be in a different part of the hotel where the decor is less, uh, retro).
i didn't sleep much last night but i have a lot of freedom and i can easily go take a nap if i want to. i'm not going to let it bother me.
i slept on my new hair while it was wet and it looks great this morning! now that is the hallmark of a great haircut!!
i think we're going to bag on webcasting today, at least in the early part of the day. i may suggest it for the illuminated cruise, if i think the cams can pick up anything worth seeing. we're trying to conserve our chargers for the parade tomorrow, which will be the most interesting thing to webcast.
Posted by lisa at August 05, 2005 07:57 AM
Comments
Let me know if you need me to bring my 12V battery power source thing.
Posted by: Stephanie on August 5, 2005 09:23 AM
Good god, if I had a plain white mini-van, it would be an art car in a heartbeat, just to hide the "plain white minivan-ness" of it.
Posted by: Steph Mineart on August 5, 2005 09:49 AM
hey, i'm lovin the photos. it's like realtime coverage of the event
Posted by: georg on August 5, 2005 10:31 AM
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.