The Explorers Club
№ CCLXI - The Messerschmitt KR175 & KR200.









Armistice Day
One of the things I find puzzling about mine own culture is our strong preference for early celebrations over late celebrations. For example, Ska Army, a saxophonist in a U.S. Army band, marched in a Veterans Day parade on Saturday, 5 November, six days ahead of Veterans Day/Armistice Day/Remembrance Day. Why not on Saturday, 12 November, only one day late? Would not the parade have been all the better for its proximity to the sacred anniversary? This is prelude to a pair on hyperlinks, one about the Queen honoring her subjects, the other a series of photographs from Remembrance Sunday, which is celebrated on the closest Sunday to Remembrance Day, be that Sunday afore or after 11 November (in 2011, after, on 13 November): Dieu et mon droit-link & photo-link.

Project MERCATOR
The late weekend was a social one for your humble narrator. On Friday, I attended the wedding of Dick & Cassie, the lovebirds of The Loose Ties, with Jojo as my date. The wait twixt the wedding & the reception was interminable as the reception was held in the church basement below the chapel in which the wedding was held, thus eliminating the lovely time-consuming commute from site to site. Not knowing either family, except for an acquaintance with Dick's brother Jon, a fill-in "utility" member of The Loose Ties, Jojo & I sat with the band. After some canned (laptop-based) music, The Loose Ties performed, including Cassie in her gown & Dick in his tuxedo; I'd not before skanked in a suit, & found that braces are far better at holding pants in place when the legs inside those pants are not being rhythmically thrust into the air. Glow sticks were to be had, though fortunately the accompanying techno music was no where to be heard. Emerging from the basement to stand in the cold night air & cool down, I was engaged in conversation by two of my fellow guests, a couple, strangers to me. I recounted a brief history of ska & attempted to teach the lady how to skank, a process complicated by her heels though facilitated by her mild intoxication. At Dick's request, I took home a clutch of the cupcakes that were served in lieu of a wedding cake & shared them with my folks.

Despite the late night at the wedding, I was up bright & early on Saturday to join my fellows in the History Club for an excursion to the Henry Ford Museum, which I had not visited since I was a wee bairn. What an extraordinary place! I am still staggered by the size & majesty of 1601, the articulated Allegheny locomotive; suddenly, steampunk seems a far more interesting, not just as a genre of fiction but possibly as a subculture. The automobile collection, by far the largest exhibit, is undergoing renovation, to reopen next year, but we were still able to gape at a goodly number of vehicles, including a variety of presidential limousines (the most infamous being that in which President Kennedy was assassinated); an impossibly extravagant Bugatti Royale (chassis № 41.121); a Ford-powered Lotus Formula One car from the 1960s, though as the plaque was inaccessible I cannot tell you more about the provenance of the beautiful green & yellow machine; & an Oscar Meyer Weinermobile. Weinermobile! I marveled at the collection of 18th & 19th century steam engines; that William Blake described these monuments to Man's ingenuity & eventual creators of unprecedented prosperity as the engines of "dark Satanic Mills" tells you everything you need to know about the disdain with which I regard Blake's tripe. I repeat, what an extraordinary place! We did not tour Greenfield Village, nor the Automotive Hall of Fame, & as aforementioned the car collection was largely inaccessible; so, a return trip is most certainly in order.

Project GLOWWORM
In the aftermath of the evening, I am having the devil of a time getting my braces cleaned, both of my usual dry cleaners being scared off by the leather bits that houses the holes through which are slipped the pants' buttons, attaching the braces to the pants. I'd not foreseen this difficulty, & shall have to consult my clothier for cleaning advice.

The fellow to whom I recounted the brief history of ska made a big deal of my moustache & seemed quite impressed that I'd been growing it for fourteen months. He, like his lady, was mildly intoxicated.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Lily Allen, "Cheryl Tweedy" from the Smile E.P. (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary:

"I wish my life was a little less seedy.
Why am I always so greedy?
Wish I looked just like Cheryl Tweedy,
I know I never will,
I know I never will."