Motorists Brave Russia for First Transorientale Rally Deutsche Welle Terrorists cancelled this year's Dakar Rally, but a new race challenged drivers to navigate the Russian forests, the steppes of Kazakhstan and the Chinese desert in the first Transorientale Rally, taking them from St. Petersburg to Beijing.
Auto Racing Is on Track to Legalization Jerusalem Post Motor sport fans in Israel that currently pursue their interest at illegal events held in secrecy at a number of locations throughout the country, may find their favorite pastime legal by the end of the summer, as the Knesset's Education, Sport and Culture Committee teamed up with the Ministry of Sport, Science and Culture recently to jump-start their efforts to pass legislation designed to legalize the entire racing sector.
Iran Salutes Female 'Schumacher' BBC News Women car racers in Iran have been awarded prizes for the first time in the history of the Islamic republic. At a racing event for women organised by Iran's automobile federation, there was one woman who many in Iran believe could outperform men
You can't call a trip much of an adventure unless you've suppressed your gag reflex a few times.
July 12, 2008
I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little hard physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I highly suggest you get one.
In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you to read with your morning coffee.
See you on Monday.
J. Peterman
From the Christian Science Monitor:
Over the years of the Palestinian uprising, the center of this city routinely echoed with the grind of Israeli tanks and spurts of gunfire from local militias. Last Friday, it roared with the sounds of souped-up race car engines and the shouts of thousands of spectators who lined Muntasah Street for Nablus's first-ever road rally.
Over the loudspeakers, an announcer boomed: "Gentlemen, to your cars!"
In a city known as a hotbed for militants and as a hub for car thieves, it almost didn't matter who won the first-place trophy at the Nablus Wataniyeh Mobile Car Race. The fact that it took place at all marked a milestone in restoring a sense of normalcy.
"Maybe it will help our younger generation change their mind and take more of an interest in sports and culture. We need a change here," says Sami Rabah as he lifts his two wide-eyed boys up to see the race over the crowd.
"They've never seen anything like this before, and I think they're a little astonished," Mr. Rabah says. "[In Nablus] we can't do anything and we can't go anywhere."
Share the Eye:
Lost in the Gobi Desert William & Mary When we got lost in Inner Mongolia's Gobi Desert during the early part of the summer of 2004, everyone in the Toyota Land Cruiser got very quiet. Our normally exuberant driver, Zheng, stared straight ahead at the grayish-black gravel covering the ground for miles. He drove slowly, which was unusual for him, around eroded hummocks and shallow ravines.
Peking to Paris Rally Popular Mechanics It started as a challenge issued in 1907 by the Paris newspaper Le Matin: "What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"
The Dakar www.dakar.com The adventure began back in 1977, when Thierry Sabine got lost on his motorbike in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan-Nice Rally.
still thinking about today...
We take so much for granted that it's always a surprise to read about something we take for granted that's unique somewhere else.
A road rally in a city that often appears to be on the edge of oblivion is something to behold. We should embrace our freedoms and our sports, our reason and science and free enterprise and be grateful.
But since I like a risk......the "second annual" Nablus Wataniyeh Mobile Car Race sounds like my sort of event. A poor man's Paris to Daker road race.
I take it's called the...."mobile" car race because most cars are immobile on the streets of Nablus. Perhaps cars that are mobile are quite unique over there.
I will be taking Tabasco sauce with me , too. Never know what's on the menu...
Spinner said...
To ExPat:
I would think a "mobile" car race in LA would be a novelty as well. Been on the 10 at rush hour lately?
My impression was that Mobile Oil sponsored the event and I wondered how desperate Mobile really was to have to sponsor a race in a terrorist hotbed area in the Middle East. Gives thought to ponder...
To: Spinner,
I try to avoid the 10...
I made the mistake of being on San Diego freeway near Santa Monica a few days ago.....I "parking lot" as they say.
Good question! Why is Mobile sponsoring a car race in such a place? There's a story behind the obvious one of a car race. Oil companies always have a motive for what they do. They're not "do-gooders".
ExPat and Spinner,
I would never accuse a big oil company of having altruistic intentions but perhaps the introduction of any type of "sports and culture" could become a positive catalyst for their "younger generation".
If it is a choice between Mobile Oil and the terrorist influencing their youth, I would hope that Mobile was the lesser of two evils. Who knows, they may actually succeed in having a positive influence on the young folks in Nablus, while so many others have failed. Besides, I remember when Chicago was mostly known as being the "hotbed" of the Mob, but most of the folks who lived there didn't belong to it. Perhaps that is true of Nablus.
Guess I'm feeling a spark of optimism this afternoon.
Note To Myself: Stay off 10 when visiting L.A.