About That Beauty Thing

New Wife and I have a Saturday morning ritual which involves me making us tea and coffee and bringing the laptop to bed, where we read the online news and browse a few websites together.

The first thing we look at is this here website, because she doesn’t have time to read it during the week, so we scroll back while she gets a Whole Week Of Kim in one gulp, so to speak.  (And yet she still stays with me, which is a miracle, quite frankly.)

Anyway, our first read this past Saturday was my post about beauty and the differing definitions thereof.

I should point out that New Wife has if anything more conservative tastes than I do, and anything that reeks of “flashy” or “loud” makes her nose turn up in disgust.  Needless to say, she thought all the ’68-’72 cars I pictured were “dreadful” and “disgusting” except for the E-type (and even that gets only a begrudging pass from her).

One of the other websites we visit each week is C.W.’s Daily Timewaster, which on this occasion featured this vision of loveliness, a Jaguar Mk II from the early 1960s:

This she pronounced as the most beautiful car ever made, because it was classy (inside and out).

By her terms, of course, it is the most beautiful car ever made — because she thinks that almost all sports cars are “flashy”, and the family saloon car is the sine qua non  of automotive desirability.

I would actually agree with her, because as 4-door saloon cars go, the Mark II is undoubtedly exquisite, especially when compared to others of its ilk and era both European and American.  (With its 3.4-liter engine, it’s also plenty powerful, which she sniffily dismisses with “If you’re interested in that sort of thing”.)

And in case you’re interested in which sports car she would appreciate were we to win the lottery, it’s this one, the 1964 Mercedes 230SL W113 (“Pagoda”):

Can’t really fault her on that one, either.  (I’d prefer the later-model W113 280 SL because MOAR POWAH, but she’s unmoved by that, as we’ve seen before.)

Quote Of The Day

Talking about the “new” (LGBTOSTFU) Jaguar relaunch:

The idea of an electric car coming from a company known for cars with electrical problems is honestly hilarious. — some bloke on the Internet.

I hadn’t thought of that aspect of it, but it’s brilliant.

Eye Of

Beauty of the visual kind is always subjective and as such, therefore, there will always be differing opinions on the various kinds of beauty.  I, for one, find the voluptuous Kelly Brook and Salma Hayek to be exquisite:

 

…whereas others may refute that, and prefer the more-slender silhouettes of Charlotte Hawkins and Nicole Kidman:

It’s not that I find the latter pair unattractive — not in the slightest — it’s just my preference is for the body shapes of Mlles  Brook and Hayek.

In similar fashion, therefore, do I regard Insty’s comment about the Lamborghini Miura interesting:

“I think the Lamborghini Miura was the most beautiful car of its time, but a spoiler doesn’t make it prettier.”

(He’s talking about Liberty Walk’s version of the Miura, by the way, which I think is quite beautiful for a modern car despite the spoiler.)

But the Miura was made between 1966 and 1973, and in terms of beauty, it had some stiff competition in the beauty department during those seven years.  Here’s the “traditional” Miura:

…which I agree is an absolute stunner.  The 4-liter V-12 engine didn’t hurt, either.

Then again, if we’re looking at the 1966-1973 years, there’s my personal favorite, the Dino 246 GT:

…and also from that period, the Bizzarrini Strada / Spyder:

…not to mention the incomparable Jaguar E-type:

Okay, as far as I’m concerned that whole decade (1963 – 1972) was the golden age of automotive body design, and there is scarcely a car made back then that I wouldn’t take in a heartbeat.

All more beautiful than anything made so far in the 21st century — in my opinion.

But you all knew that already.

Jan 21 New Year’s Day Fun

A few people have written to me, wanting to participate in the Jan 21 Real New Year ‘s Day Shoot.  Here are the details:

Date / time:  Tuesday Jan 21 — 10am

Venue:  Texas Legends Gun Range (Allen TX)

Their only restriction is no aluminum cartridge casings (CCI Blazer, etc.).  Also, once a gun is uncased in a lane, it has to stay there and may not be passed around (a sensible rule, I think).

All “new” shooters need to sign in and fill out the waivers, so if you’ve never shot at Legends before, you may want to arrive a little before 10am to register.

As for guns: we should probably stick to handguns / pistol-caliber rifles / AR-AK types. (“Long” / high-power rifles will need to use the 2-lane 50-yard rifle range.)

If you’re over 60, the range fee before lunch time is $14 / half-hour or so + 1 free target (hence the proposed meeting time).  Excellent deal.

All interested parties are welcome, including girlfriends/wives/mistresses and adult children.  Depending on the response, I may go ahead and reserve a set of lanes for us, so please drop me a note if you’re interested in joining in on the fun.  I shouldn’t really have to remind anyone of this, but this is my “home” range, so best behavior and good shooting manners are required.

I myself will be bringing a couple of “interesting” guns, just for the general benefit, with “sufficient” ammo for their enjoyment.  Feel free to do the same.