by Chris Barrus
End Times researchers, reprogram your calculators.
A newly discovered fragment of the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament indicates that, as far as the Antichrist goes, theologians, scholars, heavy metal groups, and television evangelists have got the wrong number. Instead of 666, it’s actually the far less ominous 616.
In a related story Grand Rapids, Michigan files to have it’s area code changed.
Dear Apple,
Thank you for the following improvements in Tiger:
Everything else looks kinda cool, but I like these best right now
Go directly to this Flickr photoset of selections from the German graphic design mag Gebrauchsgraphik. Do it now, I’ll wait.
It’s rare enough to see a one-time “car of the future”, especially when it’s just parked down the street, but I’ve been driving past this Lagonda every day for a couple months now and can’t help but smile.
The first time I saw one was at the LA car show in 1976 or so and I instantly wanted one. OK, so I was eleven years old and it looked a lot like a Hot Wheels car as designed by Derek Meddings. In practice though, the futurism wasn’t quite as reliable as people thought and it eventually just became a big car. Still awesome-looking though.
Still chugging along through cover art for the ILMiXor series. Here’s art for Volume 2, subtitled “Pop Top 40 From Another World.”
That cover image came from Dmitry Popov’s terrific “Drive Back In Time” photograph series. Worth checking out when you have the time.
Thirty years ago I was addicted to the game Mastermind. The game itself was great, but it was the box cover that added to the overall allure. Who’s the guy and the girl? Secret agent and boss? Crime lord and assassin? Fast forward to 2003 and the true story of the Mastermind box.
And don’t miss one of the best ILX threads ever.
1. The retrofuturism of Tales Of Future Past.
2. The ABC Movie Of The Week. Specially the opening graphics.
3. Italian Police Lamborghinis
4. The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project
5. Penny Postcards. There are lots of vintage post card sites on the web, this is one of the better ones.
6. The 1947 Project blog which is a day by by account of crime, vice, and free-floating hostility in 1947 Los Angeles.
Bringing up the Shady Dell again, I was wondering about the origin of Harbie – the faded fiberglass seal that greets you at the boat. I figured he was some old mascot for some forgotten business, but I couldn’t help but think as to how a seal which generally goes with the ocean found it’s way out to the Arizona desert mountains near the Mexico border.
Enter Google…
Right off the bat, a photo of a vintage Harbie turns up at RoadsidePeek.com. Apparently, Harbie is the mascot of Harbor Gasoline – a Los Angeles/Orange County chain of gas stations that lasted through to the early 1970s. Can’t remember Harbor Gas at all, but it probably never made it down to south O.C. at all.
Alumni of Hawthorne High School remember Harbie a lot. A Harbie was spotted at a Colorado River resort (could this one be the Shady Dell Harbie?) and another remembers the gas station…
Do you remember the Harbor gas station at 115th and Inglewood ave. Had the little plastic seal and even had decals. Name of seal was “Harbie”.
Another alumni remembers a Harbie at an Anaheim trailer park…
There are two posted at the entrance of a trailer park on Harbor Blvd in Anaheim (Harbor and Chapman?, just south of the Target store.)
Meanwhile, these folks find a Harbie out near the Channel Islands beach:
we lived in a waterfront apartment in channel islands while we waited for our house to be built. there was a playground opposite the apartment where aly fell in love with a horrible old fiberglass seal called ‘harbie’
Years ago, I heard about this motel in Arizona that was made up of vintage Airstream trailers. Each one decked out with vintage decor, fixtures, everything… Later I learned that the motel was a RV park in Bisbee called The Shady Dell and in addition to the vintage Airstreams, there’s a 1947 bus (decked out in full Polynesian regalia), a vintage Chris Craft yacht, and to top it off – a 1950’s era prefab diner imported from Los Angeles.
Anyway, I was craving pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs from a vintage diner and Bisbee is a heck of a lot closer than New Jersey.
The Shady Dell itself is a total scream…
Adding to the atmosphere is the Shady Dell’s next door neighbor: Bisbee’s Evergreen Cemetery.
Some random signage from around Los Angeles the past couple of days…
