Sunday, October 4, 2015

Multi-Generational Time Travel in Strange for my Nephew (historical record)

The Raven, my nephew, made a request for more historical records and specifically more from Australia.  That was kind of a vanilla time as I was too young for competent swearing but some really, really strange things happened.  Perhaps swearing would not add descriptive power to the strangeness but it might.


Alex, my ol' Dad, was a celebrity in Sydney, ever since he hit television.  He became the local TV stud since he was about thirty-five, had a luxuriant beard, and spoke and carried himself like a 40's movie star.  Everything on television was B&W with test patterns half the time but no-one cared as this was the future, this was high-tech.

His grandkids remember him as an ol' guy with a white beard who couldn't talk very well but loved to take them to movies.  Sure, he was that ... but he was that Hollywood stud for a whole lot longer and he was a wildman.


Many times you'll see scientists on television such as deGrasse Tyson, Sagan, etc and they can seem patronizing in presenting information to people they think may be too stupid to understand it.  Alex wasn't trying to patronize his audience, he was seducing it.  It worked too as women thought he was hot stuff and watched his "Doorway to Knowledge" program at 11am each morning when hubby was off to work.  If you are working on your dog skills, check him out; he was a master.

The papers would carry things they would never otherwise carry.  He was the D-class champion in Australian go-karting but that never would have been news ... until he did it.  There were even features on his home life, one showing six children, a wife, and a dog to show the professor in the natural living environment.

There was even an all-star criminal trial for which he was an expert witness.  Even though his color blindness had no bearing on the analysis he performed, attorneys were concerned he would be shredded for his comparison of hair fibers.  It turned out he would not and the criminal, some vicious creep who murdered a child, was duly found guilty.  (WIKI:  Graeme Thorne Kidnapping)

Note:  the criminal was convicted and sent to jail for life but was not executed


The above may seem bewildering but it was normal, this was what we did.  There was a whole lot more of the strange but that should give a sampler.  This isn't normally the stuff in my articles as I've figured most of my life that people wouldn't believe it anyway.  We weren't at all rich but, man, could he draw cameras.

That may be part of the surrealism of life overall as, no chance, this cannot possibly be real.


As celebrities will, they accumulate weird people.  There are magic celebrity tentacles which reach all over, much like the mycelial habit of mushrooms, and they make connections.  One of those connections was to Bill Buckle Jr, owner of Buckle Motors in Australia, and producer of the Buckle 2.5 Liter Coupe.


Note:  there's a pic of my ol' Dad standing in front of a silver Buckle Coupe with Bill Buckle Jr. but one of the other historians must have that.

So, young grasshopper, this one takes you back to the late 50's in Australia.  The Coupe was designed by Bill Buckle Jr. and manufactured by his company in Australia.  This whole situation is as Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport as you can get.


Since you wanted to hear some wobble board or wiffle board and Rolf Harris from Australia, here's some more.

Note:  Rolf Harris is a convicted criminal.  I'm aware of it but I'm not going to dwell on it.  The name is only a reference to link the wobble / wiffle board back to Oz.


One of the other TV shows Alex did was for teens and children but the technique was similar and he didn't patronize anyone.  He was also mad as maybe he used centrifugal force or gravity or some other thin excuse, whatever it had to be to justify getting a couple of ultra-hot sports cars, one of which was a Ferrari, onto the show.

And he did that.  It was cool, too, as there were cameras outside on the entry circle for cars visiting the studio.  In front of them were two gleaming sports cars, ultra-fast in nature, and packing V12 power.  There were two drivers but we didn't know them and, man, this was going to be a gas to watch.


My ol' Dad had his own idea for what would constitute a gas and he asked the drivers to take my brother and I to do a few laps around the parking lot.  Duly fitted with helmets because that was always his insistence, we pulled out with our designated drivers.

After getting to roll a bit, the drivers started getting feisty with each other and the pace kept increasing.  Each time past the cameras, my brother and I would be waving and laughing like maniacs.  My ol' Dad would be waving back to the drivers, turn it up, turn it up.

Sure as hell they turned it up as they were going full race.  It was one incredible blast and I've never seen the filmed footage from it but I don't need to see it as I'm living it every time I think of it.  The driver of the car in which I was riding was driven by the World Driving Champion in Formula One from Australia, Jack Brabham.  I don't know who the other driver was but he had to be damn good to keep up with Brabham.


Relative to this stuff, I don't see the material I invent as being all that unusual and it's probably more credible.

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