Hey CDM, Check This Out

This dude, vacationing down this way, saw this monstrosity and included it on his blog. Hope you enjoy.

Paul Newman

As we all know by now, Paul Newman passed over the weekend. I was lucky enough to see him, although at a distance, sometime in the mid 90s when he was racing at the Rolex24 in Daytona. At that time, I did not have the access to the credentials I do today, so I was outside the fence looking in. It was a memorable time for me.

While Cool Hand Luke was a bit before my memories, I will always remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, with the ole blue eyes of my memories, Robert Redford and Katherine Ross riding that bike around, and, of course, the memorable jump off the cliff.

I read a quote from him, somewhere on the net, over the weekend, in which he said his biggest fear was that he would wake up one day with brown eyes and his career would be over!!

I came across this four minute video on YouTube, from a member called NewmansOwnFoundation. Even if it is not really Newman's Own Foundation, it is a good one and seems to sum up his life.

Crazy Stuff On Ebay

This has the potential of becoming a regular feature, in addition to What I Saw Today. We'll see.

Ya know, sometimes ya just see the wierdest stuff on ebay, usually at exorbitant prices.

How about this? I mean, I know that sometimes you just don't want to get all dressed up to go to WalMart, but come on, how lazy can you get? Delivered right to your door by uniformed representatives of the Federal Government? The best part is, at the time of this blog, it had four bids.

And what about this? I am not sure if they made a full metal longroof in '47 but I could probably chase this fully restored one down for a whole lot less money and it is here in the good ole USA, not the Swiss Alps.

And I love the descriptions some of the hoons leave. Hey Dude, this longroof is no longer a longroof nor is it a convertible. It is merely "topless".

And then, sometimes I see something I totally lust after, knowing that unless I win a big ass lottery, I will never acquire it.

Updating The Taj Mahal

So, over the past couple days, I have been emptying out that storage unit to try and conserve expenses until I land gainful employment. In the meantime, I have taken the opportunity to install a heat detector in the Taj Mahal.

See a photo of it below.

The Acorn Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Or maybe that should be the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Well, thehorsefarmer has finally entered the world of blogging and is demonstrating his inherited talent for conveying his version of events onto the worldwideweb. You should check it out here.

Now, I think all of us got a bit of ability to spin a yarn of words from the Gentleman Farmer, my Dad, Bob Lee, Sr. He was a journalist and a damn good one if I do say so myself. In addition to being the Editor of a weekly newspaper for the Catholic Diocese in southern Missouri, he also was published, at least twice, in Catholic Family Digest. Accomplishments that netted him some much needed farm implements or a tent trailer camper.

I am from a family of 5 boys and 5 girls. I know, whenever I mention this to someone, they are usually dumbfounded. It is almost unbelievable in today's times. I will always remember Dad saying the reason he had 10 kids was the fact he kept wanting a blonde haired, blue eyed child, as he was. The last one, Joan, was a blonde so I guess Mom and the Gentleman Farmer decided to settle for that. Or Mom developed a perennial headache. We all have brown eyes, I guess because we are all full of it!

So now onto the subject of this post.

While all of us boys, at least, got the ability to spin a yarn from the Gentleman Farmer, only one of us got his looks and his mannerisms. As thehorsefarmer relates here, he, like the Gentleman Farmer, now requires a hearing aid to see and glasses to hear. Dad was the same way. I remember him telling me, while talking from the Sunshine State to the Ozark Mountains, 'Hang on, let me put on my glasses so I can hear you'. I had forgotten this until reading thehorsefarmer's blog. Thanks for jogging my memory, Tom.

I remember one year Dad got, from I have forgotten who, a headset device to hear the TV without the sound being at full volume. Of course, Dad used it for about 30 seconds and then it gathered dust on top of the TV set. Alternately, he would act as if he didn't hear you, as did his Mom, my grandmother, Moo, so they could pick and choose what they wanted to respond to.

So, in addition to this inability to hear without glasses or see without a hearing aid, thehorsefarmer is the only one in my family to inherit the Gentleman Farmer's looks.

Check the following images out.

The above image is thehorsefarmer and me sitting on his three wheeled cart just outside the newly built Coop deVille this past summer.

Here is a shot of the Gentleman Farmer on his much desired sailing trip. He later disclosed to me the idea of a two week sailing cruise was much better in his imagination than in his experience of it.

Here is the Gentleman Farmer in San Antonio at Christmas, according to Mom's handwriting on the reverse side of this photo. Bonus points for identifying the cars in the background. Years are required.

Here is a shot of the Gentleman Farmer in a pair of his signature suspenders. I remember Dad wore a red pair of these to one of my sibling's wedding, emblazoned with "Budweiser" on them. Fittingly, thehorsefarmer wore them to the Gentleman Farmer's internment ceremony.

This is a shot of Dad a few years before he passed, circa 1998.

Now having seen these pics of the Gentleman Farmer, can you believe the following image of thehorsefarmer. Not only did he inherit the Haven Lee Farm name, he got Dad's looks as well. Sorry about the brown eyes though.

What I Saw Today

So while the bus was watching the debate and counting prisoners, the horsefarmer was getting ready for another parade, the jeepjunkie was chasing geckos, the CDM was hammering nails, and the rest of the car world was mourning the death of a great one, I decided I would head over to the Southeastern VW show at our local flea market. I was hoping the Kid would get to go with me, but his little sister has a softball tournament down near Mickey Mouse land and he has to attend with his family. Oh well, hope these pics suffice.

It was pretty well attended, about 75 Veedubs of various vintages.

I like the look of original equipment like the one above and below.

but I also like the one on the right in the below image,

almost as much as I like this vintage old bug.

There were plenty of oval windows there but this is the only full on shot I got.

You may not remember but I saw another rare old notchback on my European Tour through Tennessee On The Road, By The Numbers.



I like the looks of this recent vintage Vanagon.

These were from the Orlando chapter.

I saw this POS Cavalier there, with chrome cladding everywhere. As I said, a POS.

This old tool kit sandwiched into the spare tire was pretty cool, and probably relatively rare.

The full view of that old bug.

Only a couple Karman Ghia's were still around when I arrived. All ragtops though, not a coupe in sight.

And just a few Things.

This triple white Type I was beautiful.

And there were a bunch of these Meyers Manx lookablikes.







My only question is "Why?"

This was cute but I bet it rides rough as hell.

Long board, short bus.



There were several of these Rabbit convertibles around. I still like the lines of these, years later.

And a bunch of cool old, and newer, buses.











Surprisingly, this was the only truck there.

A few parts were to be had. I am glad the seller put "Trunk Lid" on this or else I wouldn't have known what it was.

More recent vintages.



I parked the olestationbus behind this Westie and got a cool thumbs up from these guys.



This is a really cool older Westfalia Camper outfitted with the safari windshields,

As spartan as the olestationbus.

Cool vintage decals.



I had not seen a rear safari window before, and some desirable old coolers.

As I was leaving, I saw this POS in the parking lot. Again, I must ask "Why?".

This buggy is pretty nice. A more modern treatment at the headlights

but around back it had a pair of '65 Mustang taillights.

But modern as could be on the interior.

On the way home, I spotted this truck just outside the Speedway and stopped for a couple shots.

Given the current state of GM's financial stability, I wonder if these will be back for the 2009 season?

And that is What I Saw Today.