The Explorers' Club
№ CCXCVII - Steve McQueen (1930-1980), the "King of Cool."







Amongst other accomplishments, McQueen finished on the podium at the far-famed 12 Hours of Sebring, which today serves as the opening round in the World Endurance Championship.

The Queue
Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a struggle, one that I might abandon. (Was it really necessary for Lawrence to describe every single wadi he traversed? He apparently felt it was quite necessary, to my lament.) I've not yet abandoned the book, but I have set it aside for the nonce in favor of The Chariot Makers, received over the weekend as a birthday present. (Watch this space tomorrow for "The Loot," barring extraordinary circumstances.) I loved Matchett's first two books, Life in the Fast Lane & The Mechanic's Tale, & I'm already enjoying this final volume in his Formula One trilogy. I'd have no objection to the trilogy eventually becoming a tetralogy, because I'm confident that Mr. Matchett, a Briton resident in France who works in the United States, has not run out of insightful things to say about F1.

Recently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Warlord of Mars
Barry Wynne, The Man who Refused to Die: Teehu Makimare's 2,000 Mile Drift in an Open Boat Across the South Seas
Jim Clark, Jim Clark at the Wheel: The World Motor Racing Champion's Own Story

Currently
T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph ***postponed***
Steve Matchett, The Chariot Makers: Assembling the Perfect Formula 1 Car

Presently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thuvia, Maid of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Chessmen of Mars
Richard Price, Clockers
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Master Mind of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Fighting Man of Mars
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Swords of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Synthetic Men of Mars

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Ben Folds, "Zak and Sara" from Rockin' the Suburbs (T.L.A.M.)

Montag, 23 Juli
Fountains of Wayne, "Denise" from Utopia Parkway (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: "I heard she used to be married…"

Sonntag, 22 Juli
MxPx, "Vacation" from On the Cover II (T.L.A.M.)

Samstag, 21 Juli
Barenaked Ladies, "Baby Seat" from Maroon (T.L.A.M.)

Freitag, 20 Juli
N.A.S.A., "Apollo 11 Excerpt 17" from The Apollo Missions (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Forty-three years ago to the day, 20 July 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong & Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. became the first men to walk on the Moon. They "came in peace for all Mankind."

The Apollo Missions is a compilation of excerpts from the radio traffic 'twixt N.A.S.A. Mission Control on Earth & the Apollo astronauts on their way to & from the Moon, in orbit of the Moon, & on the surface of the Moon. Dry, yet fascinating listening. "Apollo 11 Excerpt 17" contains the immortal words, "Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed."



Snapshot of Colonel Aldrin taken by Mister Armstrong.