Iran Update - Pinpoint War?

The Telegraph has published an article entitled Britain 'on board' for US strikes on Iran, which describes a narrowing of plans to assault Iranian forces.

Washington sources say that America has shelved plans for an all-out assault, drawn up to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities and take out the Islamist regime.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that President Bush's White House national security council is discussing instead a plan to launch pinpoint attacks on bases operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds force, blamed for training Iraqi militants...

Vincent Cannistraro — who served as intelligence chief on Ronald Reagan's National Security Council and then as head of operations for the CIA's counter-terrorist centre — said: "What's on the table right now is tactical strikes."...

The White House and Downing Street would justify such an attack as a defensive move to protect allied troops in Iraq. But moderates in the US government are concerned that the counter-terrorist argument may be used by hawks as a figleaf for military action that could escalate into all out war with Iran.

Vanishing Route 66 motels

Scott Craven of the Arizona Republic has written another piece about Route 66 motels, following up once again on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's recent listing of endangered historical sites. This article concentrates on Earl's Motor Court, which has taken some inspiration from the movie Cars. Here's a snip:

Inspired by the Pixar animated film (its landscapes reminiscent of the 1950s Southwest), the Earls dug the old neon signs out of storage, reinstalled them and gave the hotel a fresh coat of paint. They also returned to the old way of renting rooms by the night, rather than by the week or month.

"We realized that we were really dumb, that we needed to have enthusiasm about where we were and what we did," Floranel said. "I love it. We're getting people from all over the world who want to experience life on Route 66."

Next time I'm "standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona," I'll check this place out!

Road Trip Essentials - Part 8

More road trip essentials, with 36-40 must-do stops along the highway. In no particular order...

Take a pilgrimage to the death-site of a beloved actor, politician, or family member. Connect with her or his mortality - and your own.

Go to a biker bar. Order a PBR and strike up a conversation. Most bikers are actually pretty cool.

Cross a long distance only on farm roads. Avoid even the two-lanes. Get so lost that even GPS can't save you.

Tour a local history museum of a town too small to have a Starbucks. Stay at least two hours; talk to the curators.

Listen only to AM radio stations for a day.

Road Trip Essentials - Part 7

My road trip essentials feature is back, with 31-35 must-do stops along the highway. In no particular order...

Since fast food is such an important (if regrettable) part of the roadside experience, search out "fast food firsts," such as the first KFC and the first Pizza Hut.

Visit an alligator farm. Just make sure you don't confuse this stop with a petting zoo.

Drive Route 66 through Texas and plan a stop at Cadillac Ranch. Bring spray-paint so you can add your words of wisdom to this tourist trip for the ages.

Visit the McDonalds in Vinita, Oklahoma. Eat a burger over the interstate.

Plan a theme trip searching for "capitals" of the world, such as a town boasting itself the "lentil capital of the world."

Halloween Clown Costume

This Halloween, the Wood Family is continuing our tradition of creating a PG-13 "Haunted Porch" for the neighborhood kids. Last year's theme was Alien Autopsy. The theme this time: Psycho Circus.

Preparing for Halloween, therefore, I've been searching Amazon.com for a great clown costume, and this one appealed to me: something creepy, with lots of skulls and crossbones. Then I noticed one selling point: "Makes a great Easter Costume."

What kind of weird-ass Easter do these people have in mind?

Iran Update - early October

The Sydney Morning Herald reports escalating interest in bombing Iran. Here's a snip:

AUSTRALIA, Britain and Israel have reportedly "expressed interest" in a US campaign to launch surgical bombing raids on Iran targeting Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities.

A report in The New Yorker by the journalist Seymour Hersh said the Bush Administration had stopped trying to justify a campaign against Iran on the basis of curtailing Iran's nuclear ambitions. It is instead redefining the war in Iraq as a strategic battle between the US and Iran.

Death Race 2000

As I discovered this weekend, Roger Corman's 1975 production of Death Race 2000 makes a swell double-bill to Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. Both movies mock the American blurring of cars, sex, and violence, though Death Race 2000 takes itself much less seriously. That'll happen when a film's budget can be transported in piggy banks. Director Paul Bartel recalls, "Because Death Race was so cheap and looked so cheap in many ways, it was easiest to do it satirically and not have to worry if it seemed futuristic" (p. 156). I first became intrigued with Death Race 2000 because of its promised depiction of a dystopian American future. But, aside from the cheesy matte shot that frames the race -- and a few 70s-era buildings that looked vaguely futuristic in an EPCOT Center sort of way -- Death Race 2000 is set securely on back roads that demanded no filming permits.

Despite its half-hearted efforts and political and media satire, this movie is really abut a transcontinental road race in which drivers run pedestrians over for points. Heads explode like tomatoes while, at the pit stops, it seems that no women can keep her clothes on. This was, after all, a 70s-"Hard R" flick. Still, you've got to love a movie whose main character is called Frankenstein after losing various body parts to car wrecks. And, yes, Sylvester Stallone plays a Chicago mobster-type racer who crashes into his own pit crew to score points. Death Race 2000 is made for an evening of bad jokes and bad food (I chose pizza combos but would select pork rinds if I ever planned to watch it again).

Death Race 2000 is an awful movie, a classic of exploitation cinema.

Bartel, P. (1984). Death Race 2000: New World's violent future. In D. Peary's (Ed.), Omni's screen flights/screen fantasies: The future according to science fiction cinema (pp. 152-157). Garden City, NY: Doubleday.