Comments on: I want a collection

By: Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:08:16 +0000

I agree with you, Eric. Once I discovered Jay’s gear-headed goodness, I quickly got the impression that what he does on TV is his shtick that pays for his lifestyle, but that the real Jay is a pretty cool guy with genuinely good taste. I remember specifically that he turned down an offer to be on the american version of BBC’s Top Gear precisely because he didn’t want to make his passionate hobby into his job. Smart move.

By: Eric Almendral

Eric Almendral — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:42:08 +0000

Jay Leno’s a pretty interesting example. I can’t stand watching the guy on TV but have become a fan of him as a collector. He really knows his stuff and seems to have a deep appreciation for all types of vehicles (vintage and modern) for all the right reasons—unique designs, good engineering, the “soul” of the machine.

I see Leno driving pretty frequently and he’s in a different car every time. I have yet to be able to identify a single one of them on sight. He’s also purchased a truck (Chevy Corvair Rampside) as well as 2-wheelers from my dealer, who has quite a vehicle collection himself. What he does not have—that Leno does—is a full time staff to restore and maintain them. (We joked that Leno should buy Vectrix!)

I’d like to think that given the means, I’d be somewhere between Leno, the collector, and Ewan McGregor, who used his fortunes to ride around and up and down the world.

In my stable, I’d have a lot of what you have, including the Cub and the Elite (but I want one with a flip-up headlight). I have a whole laundry list of scooters and MCs in my head. I could easily fill a garage with dream vehicles under 350cc; really love the efficiency and beauty of small vehicles. I don’t know if a Honda CA 305 would get me around the world, but it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen (and it’s fairly affordable).

That said, I’d have to have a BMW R-series… R65 with a toaster tank, yup.

By: Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:33:29 +0000

I’d go work for Apple on a moment’s notice. I do have a draw to the SF area too. That’s where they shoot Mythbusters and there’s a really active Maker and scooter community there. There are a handful of things, like iWeb or MobileMe, where Apple does seem to be phoning it in. MobileMe has gotten a LOT better in the past few months. When they first made the transition from .MAC to MobileMe, it was absolutely terrible. The new “find my iPhone” functionality is amazing though. I’ve put it to good use a couple of times now.
As for iWeb, it is pretty abysmal, you’re right. This site is done on WordPress and actually, it’s not that hard to get a good site going on the WP platform. What you see here is really just a $25 theme and a couple days of tweaking. There’s a pretty big opportunity out there for a developer to come up with an even simpler version of the WP back end that could be just as easy to use as something like iWeb. Not a tall order really, as from what playing with iWeb I’ve done, I don’t find it particularly easy at all. In some ways, these GUI tools like iWeb and Dreamweaver complicate things to such a degree that simply learning the tiny bit of HTML/CSS it takes to build these kinds of sites would almost be less work, even for the web novice. HTML ain’t that hard, folks.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:45:29 +0000

BTW… couldn’t you go to work for Apple and help them make iWeb as functional as this blog? Also… maybe you could give them help with MobileMe! Cupertino is a nice place to live I have a sis that lives in Los Gatos and it’s nice.

Thanks for stopping by Twisty.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:41:32 +0000

Never “In Check” just checking… ;-)

By: Nathaniel Salzman

Nathaniel Salzman — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:19:55 +0000

“I think “learning how to weld, a few weeks ago” is far from where those guys are.”

So do I.

At the same time, it’s not rocket science. It’s a skill, not some sort of witch doctor magic. Good thing you’re here to keep my aspirations in check ;-)

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:05:11 +0000

I used to watch OCC like religion but their battles, which at first were comical, grew tiresome. Once Vinny left and then Pauly Jr I left the fold. Jesse James was also interesting but his whining about his celebrity status got tiresome, something I find irritating about those who become celebrities and then whine!

I think “learning how to weld, a few weeks ago” is far from where those guys are. Off the shelf stuff like engines and frames is pretty typical of even the most custom builders [Jesse James] and “off the shelf” a bit misleading to suggest it’s not high end quality.

I think, should you ever build a streamliner type it, would be very kool to document the process not matter how long it took. I think you’d have an epiphany as to what it takes and the skills required but having read your blog now for about a year I’d say in the end you might succeed.

My collections range from WW2 hula girls to Coke signage, the later I have quite a lot of, I now have moved on to Bobbleheads, the classic advertising icons only, i.e., Alfred E Newman, Spy vs Spy, Alki Seltzer, bazooka Joe, Bib the Michelin guy and so on.

Collections are cool but all require so much time, maintenance, storage & money no matter what the scale of your addiction.

My thoughts.