Crossing the Finish Line!

It has now been about 8 months since I read my poetry for the Poetry in Motion: Vintage Speed project sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts.  The bumper sticker magnets are out, and the project has been long since completed.

At this time, I think it is best to close this blog and start another, more general motor sports blog that will not be focused on this project primarily, as this one was.  Many of the kinds of posts you've come to expect to see here, however -- links to my Rochester Motor Sports articles, videos, musings about speed and racers, etc. -- will continue at the new blog.  This one will remain online, since the bumper sticker magnets have this address on them, and readers may want to explore the ins and outs of the project as it was in progress throughout 2012, along with the tidbits, videos, etc. that I shared along the way.

Some day, I do hope to publish the 14 poems that were written for Poetry in Motion: Vintage Speed.  I am currently adding poems to those so that I may have a book-length project to prepare for publication.  Watch out at the book vendors you see at historic motor racing events -- you just might see a little book of poetry by me on one of their tables one day!

Thank you to my readers!  Please accept my invitation to join me at the new motor sports blog -- Motor Sport Muse.  Yes; I do get kind of hung-up on the idea of musing, don't I?  Ha.  My more general writer's blog has a similar title, The Not-So-Daily Muse.  My website is located at ConnieAnnKirk.com and has links to all my current projects as well.

I wish you all good days and nights, and thank you all once again for your support of this project.

Godspeed!

~Connie Ann Kirk, Ph.D.

Sir Stirling Moss: Charm Included

Here's a story Sir Stirling Moss told recently about how he would avoid getting a speeding ticket!

Charm's a'flowing, as usual!

If you ever get a chance to hear this man tell his stories -- go!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/9895210/Chris-Huhne-finds-a-champion-in-Stirling-Moss.html

Car Songs: "Crashed," Daughtry

Followers of the blog will know that I've been collecting car songs.  Here is another, at least it is to my mind, and ear.

We're not sure what does the crashing of one person into another in this song, "Crashed" performed by Chris Daughtry.  It could be the "runaway train," but I like to think of it as a car and the "runaway train" as the trip the two go on in the uncertain journey of their relationship.  Well.  The lyrics resonate with me, anyway -- how about you?  (Enjoyed best at high volume!  Ha!).

Lyrics:

Well I was moving at the speed of sound.
Head-spinning, couldn't find my way around, and
Didn't know that I was going down.
Yeah, yeah.
Where I've been, well it's all a blur.
What I was looking for, I'm not sure.
Too late and didn't see it coming.
Yeah, yeah.

And then I crashed into you,
And I went up in flames.
Could've been the death of me,
But then you breathed your breath in me.
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

Somehow, I couldn't stop myself.
I just wanted to know how it felt.
Too strong, I couldn't hold on.
Yeah, yeah.
Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense
Out of how and why this happened.
Where we're heading, there's just no knowing.
Yeah, yeah.

And then I crashed into you,
And I went up in flames.
Could've been the death of me,
But then you breathed your breath in me.
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

From your face, your eyes
Are burning to me.
You saved me, you gave me
Just what I need.
Oh, just what I need.

And then I crashed into you,
And I went up in flames.
Could've been the death of me,
But then you breathed your breath in me.
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

And then I crashed into you,
And then I crashed into you,
And then I crashed into you,
And then I crashed into you,
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away

Historic Racers at Watkins Glen in LIFE IN THE FINGER LAKES Magazine

Nice to see my article in the Fall, 2012 issue of Life in the Finger Lakes Magazine has now been digitally archived online at their site.  The article goes from p. 46-51 (you can zoom in on the pages at the magazine's site to make them bigger to read).

It was so much fun talking with these guys and watching them race!  Thanks again, Marc & John (< -- yes; my good co-author on the racing book!)!

  

Sirs Stirling Moss and Patrick Stewart -- the BBC Doc.

Sirs Stirling Moss and Patrick Stewart -- the BBC Doc.

He's beloved in Britain and indeed around the world, not only by those who appreciate motor racing but also by those who value athletes from a former time who did not take the spectators of their sport for granted.  In December, 2012, the BBC broadcast a documentary called Racing Legends:  Stirling Moss.  It is part of a new BBC series about legends of motor sports, and it is terrific. 

I highly recommend this documentary, actually not only for fans of Sir Stirling but really for anyone.  It is well done and especially showcases with joy and humor, poignancy and grace, how one man, also in his senior years (Sir Patrick is in his 70s; Sir Stirling about 10 years older), can still have feelings for a hero of his youth so many years later.  What does it mean to Stewart to meet his hero from the world of racing, and what does it mean to him to actually drive some of the same cars driven by the Stirling Moss he watched race?

The BBC was given access not only to the Moss home in London but also to rides along with him and Stewart in cars he helped make famous.  Stewart is given the opportunity to drive at least one of these legendary race cars himself.

I can't imagine how strange, or even humbling, it must be for Sir Stirling to see a fellow knight, OBE, reacting in the way Stewart does with him and the cars he drove "at work."  Racers tend to be a practical sort, rather than necessarily romantic or nostalgic, I've found.  Was Sir Stirling perhaps bemused at all of this reverence, fuss, and attention from this actor of both stage and screen? 

I certainly did not expect to laugh and cry watching this video, but I actually did both!  Stewart, as an award-winning actor, is capable of conveying his emotions as he experiences this life-long dream.  At one point, whether planned or spontaneous, he remarks while sliding into a race car, "This beats the Enterprise any day," reminding the viewer that this is not someone who hasn't experienced much in life but is in fact someone accomplished in his own right who did not let holding onto a dream prevent him from attempting and conquering other feats in life in other directions.

It is fun to watch a young person, or even a middle-ager, experience a dream come true -- it's quite another to watch an accomplished man in his senior years be able to do the same thing.  The right significance and level of appreciation is there, heartfelt and full.  The advanced years of both men only make watching them in action together all the more joyous and poignant.

The documentary struck me as encapsulating what much of historic racing is about for so many of its participants -- a chance to live the dream before the night, alas, is over.

On December 26, Sir Patrick Stewart posted to his Twitter account:  "So proud to have helped make this documentary and hardly able to believe what cars I drove."

The documentary is a tribute to a gentleman I've written about before.  It's also, though, a tribute to the dream in all of us, showing us how ageless dreams are, and how, even as we age into our senior golden years, the days of wisdom, we stay alive as long as our dreams burn brightly within us.

The 'Boss' finally finds a home -- 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302

[Photo:  Connie Ann Kirk].

The International Motor Racing Research Center finally gave away the 'Boss'!  See who won by clicking on this link which will take you to my Examiner article on the subject.

International Motor Racing Research Center to raffle off its "Boss"

[The 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302 parked in front of the IMRRC.  Photo by Connie Ann Kirk].

International Motor Racing Research Center to raffle off its new "Boss" -- Really?  Well, this new boss knows where you want to go and will take you there in a hurry, if you want to move up fast. This boss will help you pass by those in front of you in the quest for your desired destination.  This boss is, um, shall we say, hot?  Unlike the boss who oversees your paycheck and may give you a raise, this boss will likely cost you money, but at least it won't cost you the initial $45,000 to park it in your garage that it will cost some other poor bloke who buys it outright --

Find out more here about why a racing research center is giving away its "Boss"!