Category - Digest

This is my last look at the car I’ve been driving for the past almost 10 years.

As much as I hated to, last week I traded my 2003 BMW 330ici coupe for something a bit newer.

This was a great ride. If there really is anything to that “Ultimate Driving Machine” tag line, this car captured that. With the 6 cylinder, 200+HP 3.3 liter engine, 5 speed manual transmission (I’ve never owned an automatic), and sporty suspension and wheels/tires, it was a blast to drive. Easily the most fun of any car that I’ve ever owned.

Not that I’ve owned all that many. The one before this was a 1988 Acura Legend coupe that I got brand new while I was still living in Hawaii, brought with me to Los Angeles when I went to music school there in 1992 and 93, and then drove to Nashville when I came here in ’94. I owned that car for 18 years and put over 200K miles on it. When the body started to rust and trim started falling off, I figured it was time to trade it in for something newer. Like, you know, something with a CD player in it…

I found this Beemer on eBay, believe it or not, and figured that transaction was safe because the car was still under its factory warranty with less than 35K miles on it. It also didn’t hurt that the previous owner was an Air Force electrical engineer who took care of the electronics on Air Force 1. He took equally good care of his car, and it being three years old put it in a price range that made sense. In January 2006 I flew up to Laurel, Maryland, to pick it up and drive it home, and I’ve been happy with it ever since.

But lately, not unlike the old man who is driving it, things have been falling apart. Various of the accessory motors no longer work. I haven’t been unable to open and close the sunroof for several years. For the past two years I’ve needed to put in a quart of oil almost every week. And the next time I took it in, I anticipated it was gonna cost me a couple grand to put on new tires (they don’t last very long) and whatever else it needed.

So a couple of weeks ago I started pondering a suitable replacement. I started thinking about the Honda Accord coupe – if I could find one with a 6cyl and a (six speed) manual transmission. I found one that I liked at the CarMax in Cool Springs.

And when we negotiated the trade-in on the BMW, what they offered me was about what I figured my next visit to the shop was going to cost. At that point, I figured I’d pretty much used it up.

If it was a dog, it would have been time to put it down.

So this is what I am driving now, a 2013 Honda Accord Coupe with a six-speed and almost 300HP:

Yes, it is VERY red.

It aint a Beemer by any stretch, but it’s fun to drive in its own way, and the electronics are much more current than what the ’03 Beemer offered. And should be a lot less costly to maintain – an important consideration as Ann and I get closer to her retirement from nursing.

Getting a new car… it’s like getting a new pair of shoes after you’ve been wearing the same pair every day for a decade. It takes some breaking in, but I’m getting used to it.

What Ever Happened to The Age of Aquarius?

September 10, 2015

commentary, Digest, personal

Whatever Happened To The Age of Aquarius, Part 1

Just posted to Medium.com: one of the early chapters from…

Time Capsule: 1969 – A 60-Something Looks Back At The 60s“

Yes, was REALLY there.

This is a first hand account of my experience at Woodstock, based on notes scribbled at the scene and a more detailed account written shortly after – and then embellished with 45 years of hindsight and retrospection. The entire chapter is about 4,000 words, but for the sake of web-induced, nano-second attention spans, I have broken it down into three shorter installments. Start with:

…and if that holds your attention, follow the links to subsequent installments.

Comments and feedback much appreciated, wherever you care to leave it (in comments here, on Medium.com, Facebook, Twitter, Cuneiform tablets).

And by all means feel free to pass it along… there are surely others outside my immediate sphere of influence who can relate… regardless of their age.

New Post to Medium: This Is Why The Internet Sucks

September 3, 2015

commentary, Digest

This Is Why The Internet Sucks
Part 1: What’s My Password?

I have just posted a new essay re: my recent experience buying tickets for a baseball game online to Medium.com

Follow the link to read:

Nashville August Super Moon Prints and Wallpaper

September 2, 2015

Digest, gizmos, photography

Maybe you’ve seen these photos that I posted on Facebook of the August Super Moon rising over Nashville: The response has been very gratifying. Several people have said these are the nicest photos they’ve ever seen of Nashville. That might be debatable (he says, feigning modesty), but in any case, several people have purchased prints.

In addition to the prints, I’m throwing in a digital file that looks really cool as the “wallpaper” on your smart phone or tablet:

Just follow THIS LINK for details and ordering

The Walter Scott Monument At Night

September 1, 2015

Ann and I spent two weeks on Scotland in October, 2012. I put some (like, 700…) of the photos from that trip onto a digital picture frame that sits on the counter in our kitchen. Lately I’ve been seeing those photos and thinking I need to go through them again, if for no other reason than to share with a Facebook page I contribute to sometimes called “Scotland From The Roadside“

This is one of the first photos from the trip, our first night in Edinburgh – The Sir Walter Scott Monument on Princes Street:

Sir Walter Scott Monument – Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
@edinspotlight @historicscotland @welovehistory @visitscotland @GreatBritain @TwitterUK #scotland #edinburgh #travel #midlothian
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Super Moon Over The Cumberland

August 29, 2015

The moon was supposed to rise from the horizon at 7:17PM, but there was still a substantial cloud cover to the east. Finally, about 8:15, the moon cleared the clouds and started to arc westward until the moonlight reflected in the Cumberland:

Super Moon Over The Cumberland River – August 29, 2915

@NashvilleTN #nashville #nashvilleguru #musiccitysunsets #igersnashville #heartnashville #nashvilleTN #nashvilleinstagram #nashvilleincrowd #nashvillegram #nashvegas #tennesseeinstagram #tennessee #musiccityusa#nashvillescene #nashvillesky
#photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #travel #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots

Waiting for the Super Moon

August 29, 2015

This past Saturday night (August 29), the Earth experienced another one of these occasional “Super Moon” events where the full moon is a few miles closer to the Earth than is normally the case.

I got permission to go up to the 30th floor terrace of the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower State Office Building at the corner of Charlotte and Rosa Parks Blvd – it’s one of the highest points in all of downtown Nashville, and is the vantage point where I shot my entry in the Mayor’s Skyline Photo Contest back in 2013. Some of you might remember that shot:

Music City Sunrise – October, 2013 Click to embiggen

Well, the management at the Tower has changed, but I nevertheless managed to finagle my way back up there for the moon rise this past Saturday. So here’s me, 30 floors up, waiting for the moon…

According to my trusty photographer’s ephemeris, the super moon should be coming up right over the river in about 10 minutes. Image shot with iPhone 6 and edited in Snapseed.

Another Sliver Of A Second In The Backyard

August 23, 2015

There was a little more sun on Sunday (!), so I got the camera out and went after the little hummers again. This time @ 1/1000th….

Another sliver of a second in the backyard#hummingbird #nature #backyard #freezeframe #lazysunday

@NashvilleTN #nashville #nashvilleguru #igersnashville #nashvilleTN #nashvilleinstagram #nashvillegram #tennessee #musiccityliving #musiccityusa #nashvillelife #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood @instagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Hummingbird 1 – Coming In For A Landing

August 22, 2015