Monthly Archives: October 2015

Dedication

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“We all have dreams.
But in order to make dreams
come into reality,
it takes an awful lot of determination,
dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”
Jesse Owens

Dedication

Every morning when I wake, no matter rain or shine, there are surfers in the water. The waves can be minuscule or ten foot swells but still there are surfers in the water.

Our waters here in Redondo Beach are cold in the summer months and even colder in the fall and winter. Some of these surfers hit the surf without a wetsuit. Some even hit the water before daybreak.

I admire these surfers for their passion for their sport and for their undying dedication.

Shine On

Beyond The Horizons

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“A cloud does not know why it moves
in just such a direction and at such a speed.
It feels an impulsion… this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns
behind all clouds, and you will know, too,
when you lift yourself high enough
to see beyond the horizons.”
Richard Bach

Beyond The Horizons

Shine On

King of Kustomizers

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“I’m taking the challenge of solar energizing
the Ford Focus electric car.”
George Barris

Classic Custom Cars

Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford with the Lincoln Futura concept car circa 1950s from the movie, Started With A Kiss

If you grew up in Southern California during the 1950s and 1960s, you witnessed some of the most famous custom cars built in the 20th century.

The man responsible for some of these famous automobiles is George Barris. George and his brother Sam were born in Chicago in the 1920s. Following the death of their mother, their father sent the boys to live with their uncle in Roseville, California.

As early as age 7, George was making models of cars using balsa wood. His careful attention to details on the modifications and design of these cars won contests sponsored by local hobby shops.

George’s uncle gave George and his brother a run down 1925 Buick which the brothers swiftly restored and made into a beautiful custom car. This was just the beginning of the famous Barris Custom Shop in Bell, California.

Their beautiful custom work for well-paying car lovers brought the brothers to the attention of the movie industry. Soon they were building custom cars for movies such as, North by Northwest, The Time Machine and also began customizing cars for television.

Batmobile

1965 Batmmobile

In the beginning of the 1950s, George Barris purchased the Lincoln Futura, a concept car built by Ghia of Italy. It remained in his collection until he was hired by ABC Television to build a car for the Batman television series. The request for the Batman car didn’t leave him much time to build a car from scratch, so he decided to use the Futura to create the Batmobile.

The Batmobile was just the beginning of his television custom car career. From there he went on to build the Drag-U-La car for The Munsters, The Beverly Hillbillies touring car and the car for the Night Rider series just to mention a few.

He’s also famous for his custom novelty cars for celebrities such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Ann Margret, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin and Sonny and Cher.

Today George Barris is still building and designing cars and is a legend among the hot rod industry. At 89 years young, his latest and newest car he’s working on is with Galpin Ford. It’s a solar energy Ford Focus using solar sheets on the roof.

Whether he’s building cars for Hollywood or for wealthy private collectors, George Barris will always be known throughout the world as the original King of Kustomizers.

Shine On

Garnerin’s Grand Parachute

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“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.”
Jean de La Fontaine

Garnerin's Grand Parachute

Today marks the day in 1797, when 28 year old french balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris.

Garnerin’s parachute resembled a closed umbrella before he ascended, with a pole running down its center and a rope running through a tube in the pole, which connected it to his balloon. As he rode in a basket attached to the bottom of the parachute, he severed the rope that connected his parachute to the balloon. Then the balloon continued skyward while Garnerin with his basket and parachute fell. It was reported that the basket swung violently during descent, then bumped and scraped when it landed, but Garnerin was uninjured.

Garnerin regularly staged tests and demonstrations in Paris, but these became a controversial issue when he announced that his next flight would include a woman as a passenger. Although the public and press were in favor, he was forced to appear in front of officials of the Central Bureau of Police to justify his project. Officials were concerned about the effect that reduced air pressure might have on the organs of the delicate female body and loss of consciousness, plus the moral implications of flying in such close proximity.

Unsatisfied with Garnerin’s responses, the police issued an injunction against him, forbidding the ascent on the grounds that the young woman was committing herself to the venture without any idea of the possible outcome.

Garnerin had the injunction overturned after consultation with both the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of the Police. Officials agreed that there was no more scandal in seeing two people of different sexes ascend in a balloon than it is to see them jump into a carriage.

Unfortunately, Garnerin died in a construction accident when he was hit by a wooden beam while making a balloon in Paris on August 18,1823.

It may not sound like much today, but 217 years ago parachuting was quite a feat. A large number of spectators would come from all over Europe to watch Garnerin parachute from his balloon. It even prompted the English to write this famous popular ballad:

Bold Garnerin went up
Which increased his Repute
And came safe to earth
In Garnerin’s Grand Parachute

Shine On

Back To The Present

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“Now, if my calculations are correct,
when this baby hits 88 miles an hour,
you’re going to see some serious shit!”
Dr. Emmett Brown

Back to The Future Day

One of the best movie series of all time is Back To The Future. My two favorites are the first and third of the series. Some of you diehard BTTF fans may recall in the second of the series Marty and Doc travel to October 21, 2015.

Today, almost thirty years after the second movie was made, we are wondering, how much of the future did Robert Zemeckis get right?

In some cases, Zemeckis’ 2015 isn’t too far from reality. For example, we don’t have hoverboads yet, but Japanese car company Lexus recently unveiled a prototype for a real, rideable hoverboard. A company called Arx Pax in California is also working on its own version. Unfortunately they both rely on magnets, so are unlikely to be able to fly over water like Marty’s.

How about wearable technology? Marty’s future kids wear headsets at the dinner table to make and receive calls and watch TV. With the introduction of Google Glass in 2013, and gaming headsets like Oculus Rift in the works, virtual reality is not far off, and Microsoft’s recently announced Hololens more than a passing resemblance to Junior’s goggles.

How about video calls?  Marty’s video call with his co-worker Needles seemed like a futuristic dream, but with FaceTime and Skype now staples, the video call has evolved from a business medium to an essential of everyday life.

What about hands-free gaming? While we don’t see it in the film, kids at Cafe 80s mock Marty for having to use his hands to play an arcade game, implying that Xbox Kinect-style gaming is the norm in their 2015. And guess what, it is.

How about the iPad or tablet computers?  When Doc meets Marty by the clock tower, he is brandishing what looks like an iPad-style tablet computer. Today, tablets are commonplace with 233 million units expected to be sold in 2015.

What about fingerprint recognition? Most of us don’t use it to get into our house, but fingerprint recognition is now a major part of many people’s lives, being used on several smartphones to unlock them or pay for items.

Then there was the famous self-tying shoes. Marty’s self-tying trainers were one of the weirder inventions features in Back to the Future II. Nike designer Tinker Hatfield has confirmed he and his team are working on a consumer version of the shoes, complete with self-tying laces, and hopes to have them ready for sale by the end of 2015.

Sure, there were a few things that Zemeckis got wrong. Such as flying cars and power clothing but I must admit, Zemeckis not only made a great film but showed us what the future had in store for us. Bringing us back to the present.

Shine On