Like any other site, we get spam in our comments. Today, we received this wonderful piece of writing:
"All grassroots exertions require group investment to succeed. Propelled
Search that permits clients to pursuit on magic words or any
characteristic caught . [HYPERLINK DELETED]"
This is what we get when we do a Google Image search for "grassroots exertions:"
From the Zelo Street blog, whatever that is (zelo-street.blogspot.com)
That's a swell example of grassroots exertion, isn't it?
And this is what we get when we paste the above comment into Translation Party:
"Investment group is required to succeed in all
grassroots efforts. Promote properties to catch any pursuit or magic
word search clients."
This may be the only case where Translation Party's output makes far more sense than its input.
DAY OF THE RAT
Rat Race - Thunderhill Raceway Park (Willows, CA)
Star Projects Events' crapcan series Rat Race makes its first foray into California with a weekend at Thunderhill on February 23 and 24th. The Rat Race weekend will be at two-day event with a single-session, eight-hour race on Sunday, February 24.
Saturday, February 23, will include morning technical inspections and a drivers' meeting, followed by open practice. A 30-minute qualifying session will be held at 4:30 p.m. to determine the next day's grid for the endurance race.
In the crapcan world, Ford's Fox platform presents a lurid challenge to prospective racers. The platform offers a bevy of front-engine, rear-drive types with drivetrains a plenty from which to choose. The Mustang remains the most popular choice, but one of the most successful Fox-body crapcans has been Tiger's Wood PGA Racing Racing/Anti-EPA Racing wretched-looking Mercury Cougar XR7.
With two race wins, three podiums and more than a handful of Top 10 finishes, the Tiger's Wood car proves that a V8 cars--despite being harder on gas, brakes and tires than entries with fewer cylinders--can finish at the sharp end of the field regularly.
In October 2012, the Cougar produced a resounding victory in the 25:25:25 ChumpCar race at Nelson Ledges, traveling 993 times around the Ohio circuit to best the second-place Team Jager-Bombs Mazda RX-7 by nine laps.
Not only was the former personal luxury coupe durable, it also clocked the race's fastest lap with a 1:19.3, which edged out the Jager-Bombs' RX-7 by 0.1 second.
Those two teams were certainly the class of the field; the third-place Skidmark Posse Honda Prelude finished a distant 36 laps behind Tiger's Wood and no other team cracked the 1:20 mark on a lap.
So what's it like to drive the FoMoCo hulk around Nelson Ledges? Here's seven minutes of video to give you an idea. Enjoy the gutteral hum of the 5.0L V8, the screech of tires under controlled duress and the whoosh of the wind at speed on Nelson Ledges' long back straight.
As some guy once said in a movie, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."
Yesterday was Valentine's Day, so we hope you had a pleasant day and did something sweet for your significant other, yourself and/or your car. We thought today might be a good day to give you the chance to do something sweet for some children who face bigger challenges than most of us will ever run up against.
My sister Amy has generously decided to participate in the St. Baldrick's Foundation event, in which participants raise money toward fighting childhood cancer. The fundraising culminates March 15 at Fado Irish Pub in Chicago, where the participants have their heads shaved as an act of solidarity with children who don't choose to lose their hair. We find the premise awesome and it's easy to say that participants are brave for taking part.
We know you scrimp and save to be able to go racing, but if you can spare it, send a dollar or five her way to help her reach her goal of $1,500. You can donate money to her campaign here.
If you're the entrepreneurial type, my family have provided two more avenues for donating:
- My wife, Jenny Meyer-Rood, sells Mary Kay. If you are a woman, know a woman or just like to feel pretty while you wrench on your rustbucket, know that Jenny will donate $5 for every Nourishine lip gloss she sells through the end of February. See her Facebook page, visit her online store or send an email to jmeyer-rood@marykay.com for details or questions.
- My brother, Phil Rood, is an illustrator of some repute to the crapcan community, having designed logos for both Team Resignation and Team Skid Steer (not to mention the most-excellent Nixon stencil, loosely based on the Thrush Mufflers logo). For fundraising, Phil is selling some fantastic original illustrations of bald fairy-tale characters fighting back. Get more information on his works for sale from his blog or his online store. He also has a Facebook page and you can find him on Twitter @philrood.
Sometimes, literature and CraigsList embrace minimalism so completely as to be breathtaking. Occasionally, these minimalist worlds collide:
"For sale is a 1993 Mercury Tracer. For the most part it is in good condition. Does have some body damage done to it as seen in photos. The windshield is also going to need replaced as it has an indent from a neighbor kid. Gets around 30 MPG Hwy. We replaced the door on the passenger side so the door on that side is white instead of light blue like the rest of the vehicle (as seen in photos). We replaced the fuel pump in it. It is an automatic with around 150,000 miles. If any questions please feel free to ask. Please include a phone number to avoid scams! Thanks for looking"[Editor's Note: Our underlining for emphasis] As is taught in literature classes, the readers have no choice but to consider that the author intends every word to be written exactly as-is.
Using the exact words, we're led to believe that the "neighbor kid" was the instrument by which the "indent" arrived on the windshield. Anything beyond that is wild speculation--which we're of coursenot prone to do--but our imaginations arrive at no small number of scenarios through which this is possible.
ALL ROADS LEAD TO ATLANTA
Optima Batteries ChumpCar World Series - Road Atlanta (Braselton, GA)
ChumpCar opens its 2013 campaign with a one-day, 14-hour race at historic Road Atlanta on February 9. The race marks the series' third weekend at Road Atlanta.
The race begins at 8 a.m. after a 7 a.m. drivers' meeting with the checkered flag coming at 10 p.m.
Registration, safety and technical inspection and gear inspection will be held Friday, February 8 from noon to 6 p.m. Novice drivers' school will be held at 5 p.m. Friday.
This week's movie takes us back to ChumpCar World Series' 24-hour race at Spokane County Raceway, where one can get a taste of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of racing 24 consecutive hours.
The veteran Paul Newman's Revenge squad faces early engine trouble with their KA24DE-equipped Nissan 240SX (it's quite a looker for a crapcan, we might add), requiring them to stop and replace the motor's distributor. The repair leaves the team in 30th place of the race's 31 entries after just two hours.
