#raleigh racer

[urbanadventureleague]

On the sentimentality of past bikes

The Surly Long Haul Trucker in its final “stripped-down tourer” iteration on Lopez Island, Washington, 15 September 2013 It happens from time to time: I go on a binge of reading my old blog posts. In the past this has happened because work has been slow, but recent thoughts about old commenters and blogs I used to follow has inspired it this time. There’s part of me that wonders if I should be…

[bryanreganphotography]

Day - 17

[fantasy-fields-bitty-center]

Hello, may I have a matchup? Undertale and AU + FNaF bitties. I am either busy or doing nothing at all. Nervous, patient, standoffish, stubborn, loyal. Want my bitty to accompany me in busy life rhythm and to be able to relax when given a minute or two. Someone to motivate me perhaps? I like music, art, dumb jokes/memes, reading and writing. Dislike conflicts, yelling, loud noises.

Hello! And yes you may have a matchup! I will be doing at least three for each so lets get into it shall we? Undertale + Au's: Blue Racer(Tale sans lamia): They are super laid back and a bit lazy, but can easily be a sources of motivation and jokes/meme!

Honeybun(Swap paps satyr): Similarly to Blue Racers they are super laid back, though a little less lazy and can easily get up and go with the best of them! They also love jokes and memes, though their hands are commonly hooved, though not all of them so maybe fighting one with normal hands would be better so they can use things like phones better to look at memes! And having normal hands means they can pick of a pencil as well!

Doll(Tale paps Nekomata): Doll's are super social and affectionate, and always know what to say to help with any anxiety or demotivation you may have! They are a bit clingy and need to be with you most, if not all of the time(they can handle leaving you be while using the bathroom, dont worry!) so this should be noted before thinking of adopting a Doll! -

FNAF/Robotic:

1.0 Toy Bonnie: These bitties are confidant, curious, and helpful, they don't mind always being on the move and can help with any social anxiety you have by talking to people who approach you first! They love making music and enjoy jokes!

1.0 Lolbit: These bitties can easily tell jokes with the rest of them! And their voice synthesizer makes it easier to be comforting, tell jokes, or be intimidatingly when needed, they are a bit protective but not overly so, they won't let a stranger bother you when you are stressed and can easily talk to them till they leave or scare them into leaving! They do prefer having a few other bitties around to watch them preform and like fashion a lot, but this just means your Lolbit won't mind trying on clothes if you like! Note that they will cover screens with static(though this doesn't hurt the devices) when they want attention!

1.0 Raleigh: These bitties prefer the cold and are often quite warm for robotic bitties! They love making music and are a large and strong type, this coupled with them being protective means they can easily make people leave you alone when needed! They like jokes like almost all FNAF bitties and would love an owner that would like to joke around with them! Note that they can overheat and 'pass out' when to hot! They do best in cold and snowy areas! If you would still like a Raleigh bitty than you can custom order one without their heating components but this means they could no longer handle the cold!

[farizrz]

Thanks for someone from IG about And Tumblr about new faces. Let's see first, already found new male Asian faces for DLS, but i still can't found female counterpart.

Second, the rest face gonna reused this time is Male MC of THM. Interesting, these faces get update.

Third and last, about the body gonna use in male MC is type body racer (Logan, Male Raleigh, Tyler, etc). For THM case, type body racer get new race skin to fit color between head and body. It seem first time type body who mostly use on Li get use on MC, huh?

[poppy-in-the-woods]

Tagged by @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad

Thanks for thinking of me!

In no particular order, 7(ish) confort movies:

1) Anastasia. I was obsessed with this movie as a kid and I still love it. It's a deliciously uchronic tale of the times post-Russian Revolution, filled with magic, songs, and animated by Don Bluth. Fantastic! It feels just like childhood whenever I watch it.

2) Pacific Rim. I can quote entire parts of this movie (Spanish dub, though). I really love the design of both the jaggers and the kaijus, the cast is amazing, the soundtrack gets me super pumped, and the friendship between Raleigh and Mako is super refreshing to see.

3) The Little Vampire. My first vampire movie, with first vampire crush included. My parents opened a blockbuster as a side hustle and whenever I spend the afternoon there I requested they played this movie in the ginormous TV they had. Also, the costumes of this movie are awesome. It reigns supreme over the animated version they made more recently. Or maybe it's just the nostalgia, Idk.

4) Promoción Fantasma (Ghost Graduation). This is a Spanish comedy movie, so I don't expect anyone to know it outside of Spain. The story is about a teacher who can see ghosts and a group of dead teenagers trapped inside a high-school. The teacher's goal is to help them get into the afterlife by "passing" all their "pending subjects", ie graduate. Things don't go as planned.

(Couldn't find a GIF I liked, sorry, tough surprisingly, there are a few on Tumblr)

5) John Wick. I really like the whole saga, but the first one was something special, and I love Keanu Reeves.

In the "father, I crave violence" moments, I watch John Wick.

6) Speed Racer. I think this masterpiece by the Wachowsky sisters is very underrated. Some people doesn't seem to be able to keep the pace with the flashbacks, but I never thought it was a problem. The aesthetic of the movie is on point, the casting was amazing, and I kid you not, I still listening to that credits song.

7) Peter Pan (2003). I love every incarnation of the boy who didn't grow up, but this one holds a special place in my heart.

8) Stardust. I can't resist putting a bonus entry every time I do these things, sorry.

Neil Gaiman wrote the book this movie is based on. Do I need to say more? Yeah? Well, the story is great, it features Charlie Cox and Claire Danes as the protagonist, and has Robert DeNiro playing a gay pirate! #CaptainShakespeareForTheWin

I don't want to tag anyone, but if you see this and want to do it, feel free to tag me so I know you come from my post, and I can get to know you.

[mvdbutler]

THE 10 MLDC WORST PEOPLES

SPONSOR-Roman | Digital Health Clinic for Men by Ro

ATLANTIC BALTIMORE BOMBERS-OWNER BOSTON SILVERRIDERS-PLAYER BUFFALO RHINOS-PLAYER HALIFAX ADMIRALS-OWNER HAMILTON HUSKIES-OWNER HARTFORD BAY PRIVATEERS-HEAD COACH LONG ISLAND GENERALS-OWNER MONTREAL ROYALS-PLAYER 1994-2018 NEW JERSEY DRAGONS-OWNER NEW YORK KNIGHTS-PLAYER NORFOLK DESTROYERS-PLAYER OTTAWA CAPITALS-OWNER 1959-2022 PHILADELPHIA TIGERS-OWNER PITTSBURGH MINERS-GM PROVIDENCE FLYING SHEARMEN-PLAYER QUEBEC CITY VIPERS-PLAYER ROCHESTER DYNAMOS-PLAYER SYRACUSE LOONS-PLAYER TORONTO TOROS-PLAYER 2019-PRESENT WASHINGTON AMERICANS-GM MIDWEST CHICAGO BARBARIANS-PLAYER CINCINNATI KINGS-PLAYER 2016-PRESENT CLEVELAND BULLDOGS-PLAYER 2023-PRESENT COLUMBUS FEDERALS-OWNER 1923-2008 DETROIT WOLVERINES-PLAYER INDIANAPOLIS RACERS-OWNER IOWA DUSTERS-OWNER KANSAS CITY MUSTANGS-PLAYER LOUISVILLE MONARCHS-PLAYER MILWAUKEE WARRIORS-OWNER 1948-2001 MINNESOTA GRIZZLIES-GM OMAHA CYCLONES-GM REGINA RAIDERS-GM SASKATOON ARROWS-PLAYER ST.LOUIS STALLIONS-GM TOLEDO TRIBE-PLAYER WICHITA CROWS-HEAD COACH WINNIPEG WOLVES-PLAYER PACIFIC ALBUQUERQUE COYOTES-PLAYER ANAHEIM DRAGONFLIES-PLAYER CALGARY COWBOYS-OWNER DENVER RIDERS-GM EDMONTON OUTLAWS-HEAD COACH FRESNO BLUE HERONS-OWNER LAS VEGAS LIZARDS-PLAYER LOS ANGELES STARS-OWNER OAKLAND OILERS-OWNER PHOENIX FIREBIRDS-PLAYER PORTLAND PIONEERS-OWNER SACRAMENTO HAWKS-OWNER SAN DIEGO SHARKS-OWNER SAN FRANCISCO SEALS-PLAYER SAN JOSE CONQUISTADORS-PLAYER SEATTLE THUNDERSONICS-PLAYER UTAH STAGS-PLAYER VANCOUVER CRUSADERS-PLAYER SOUTHERN ATLANTA BLAZERS-GM/OWNER AUSTIN MARINERS-OWNER BIRMINGHAM BLACKSMITHS-OWNER CHARLOTTE BREAKERS-OWNER DALLAS MARSHALS-PLAYER EL PASO STAMPEDERS-PLAYER HOUSTON BULLS-GM JACKSONVILLE GATORS-GM MEMPHIS BLUES-OWNER 1938-2024 MIAMI MARAUDERS-PLAYER MOBILE CRIMSON LIONS-PLAYER NASHVILLE BISONS-PLAYER NEW ORLEANS PIRATES-PLAYER OKLAHOMA CITY SEMINOLES-PLAYER 2008-PRESENT ORLANDO SUNS-PLAYER 2017-PRESENT RALEIGH-DURHAM FLYERS-PLAYER SAN ANTONIO PHANTOMS-GM TAMPA BAY BARRACUDAS-PLAYER

[fasthq]

‧₊˚ ⋅ ☆ welcome to fasthq ... apparently  BELLA DIEZ, GREYSON RIVERA, AVA PARK, VENTIA DIZON  / cindy kimberly, aron piper, jennie kim, kylie verzosa  are  dwn  by  track-one  !  let's  hope  they  brsh  up  on  their  crew  rules  &  chck  into  the  forums  in  the  nxt  24  hrs,  cnt  w8  to  c  their  nxt  race  !

「 ₊ ☆ﾟ cindy kimberly, she/hee, cisfemale 」INCOMING TEXT: omg hv u met BELLA DIEZ of the RODANI PROWLERS yet ? they’re one of the import models n actually goes by BLONDIE. the twenty - six y/o is typically seen hanging arnd 12WELVE. allegedly they’re frm miami n hv been w/ the crew for FIVE YEARS. wtvr. just watch out for them, k ? ttyl !「 ₊ ☆ﾟ april, 25, she/her 」

「  ₊ ☆ﾟ  aron  piper,  he/him,  cis  man  」incoming  text:  omg  hv  u  met  greyson  rivera  of  the  rodani  prowlers  yet  ?  they’re  one  of  the  crew’s  drivers  n  actually  goes  by  fox.  the  twenty  four  y/o  is  typically  seen  hanging  arnd  board  galore.  allegedly  they’re  frm  key  biscayne  n  hv  been  w/  the  crew  for  five  years.  wtvr.  just  watch  out  for  them,  k  ?  ttyl  !「  ₊ ☆ﾟ  bella,  22,  she/they  」

「  ₊ ☆ﾟ  jennie kim,  she/her,  cis woman  」incoming  text:  omg  hv  u  met  ava  park  of  the  rodani  prowlers  yet  ?  they’re  one  of  the  crew’s  street  racers  n  actually  goes  by  venus.  the  twenty  six  y/o  is  typically  seen  hanging  arnd  12welve.  allegedly  they’re  frm  raleigh  n  hv  been  w/  the  crew  for  seven  years.  wtvr.  just  watch  out  for  them,  k  ?  ttyl  !「  ₊ ☆ﾟ  ev,  27,  she/her  」

「 ₊ ☆ﾟ kylie verzosa, she/her, cis woman 」incoming text: omg hv u met venetia dizon of the rodani prowlers yet ? they’re one of the crew's import models n actually goes by beretta. the twenty - nine y/o is typically seen hanging arnd body. allegedly they’re frm nevada n hv been w/ the crew for six years. wtvr. just watch out for them, k ? ttyl !「 ₊ ☆ﾟ tea, 21+, she/her 」

[rideinternal]

[screamsinsilver]

An Introduction to Quadrant

I’ve seen too many people saying they don’t know exactly what Quadrant is, so I’m here to help you out

Quadrant is a Gaming and Lifestyle brand (kinda like 100 Thieves) founded by Lando Norris. It has four key elements: gaming, racing, content and apparel. A Gaming and Lifestyle brand is a brand that appeals to the ‘gamer’ culture, and their target market are gamers and racing fans, people who are on the internet, watching YouTube and Twitch, and specifically like racing related content. Lando founded the brand at some point in March 2020, and implemented it with the help of Veloce to launch in November that year (and yes he kept it a secret that whole time).

The name comes from Lando’s number and from the four elements (not from the number of members, like some people thought).

They have a ‘Content Team’, i.e. the people in the spotlight:

Lando Norris: Founder, Formula 1 driver, occasionally streams on Twitch (1M+ followers) and uploads on YouTube (741K subscribers)

Aarav Amin/Aarava: YouTuber (614K subscribers), primarily known for F1 Career Mode gameplay, occasionally streams on Twitch (50K followers).

Maria Bish/RiaBish: Streamer, had a deal with Facebook for a year (100K followers), returning to Twitch in 2022 (13K followers), occasionally uploads vlogs on YouTube (19K subscribers).

Niran Yesufu/FNG: YouTuber (598K subscribers), focussed mostly on Football, but if you know where to look you can find his old F1/racing channel (9K subscribers), occasionally streams on Twitch (42K followers).

Steve Alvarez Brown/SuperGT: YouTuber (640K subscribers / 9K subscribers), simracing content, kart racer (more of that later), on Twitch but he’s not much of a streamer (9K Followers).

Ethan Pink/Fifakill: Streamer (267K followers), plays Call Of Duty on Twitch, uploads on YouTube too (56K followers).

Max Fewtrell: Racing Driver, Streamer (44K followers), probably the biggest non-F1 driver streamer in the motorsports space (relative to stream viewers), mostly chatting streams but he does play games too. He has ambitions to start a YouTube channel to vlog his racing, would start one anyway but doesn’t know what else to make videos about.

Quadrant’s content creators were already ‘popular’ before joining the team, Aarav, Niran and Steve were already on a couple hundred thousand subscribers, Ethan averaging around 700 viewers, Max averaging around 300 viewers (I might elaborate on his growth in another post), Ria averaged around 70 when she was on Twitch, but then secured a deal with Facebook (and I can’t get those stats).

Quadrant has begun branching in esports, starting with the Halo Championship Series. They signed four players who compete on behalf of Quadrant, and participated in their first LAN event on 17-19 December 2021 (HCS Raleigh). They also have plans to expand to other esports categories over the course of 2022 and beyond.

Looking further into the four ‘key aspects’:

Gaming

The members themselves are all gamers, and all ‘create’ gaming content of some sort. A lot of the content posted on their YouTube channel is ‘gaming’ content. 23 of the 62 videos uploaded involve the members playing a videogame. Games played include: F1, Assetto Corsa, Skribbl.io, CoD: Warzone, Golf with your Friends, Five Nights at Freddy’s VR, Minecraft, Rocket League and Geoguessr. Quadrant have also done Squad Streams playing F1, F1 Race Stars (attempted), Minecraft and UNO.

Racing

As the Brand of a Formula 1 driver, there is a primary racing influence. They have done racing focussed segments with Lando and Steve karting content and Quadrant x Yas Heat on track content.

Quadrant also has a ‘sponsorship’ position, after signing as a sponsor for Steve to compete in the Ultimate Karting Championship in 2021. There is a likelihood for them to continue with this with Steve and potentially also Max on his return to racing.

Quadrant also launched a live-streamed series taking place on Lando’s Twitch titled ‘The Pitwall’, a live watchalong to the Formula 1 Grand Prix, with suggestions to expand to other racing series and major motorsport events. The Pitwall is usually hosted by Max and Niran, with guests to be included in later streams. This format allows better audience participation via Twitch chat and Twitter, using #ThePitwall.

Content

As an internet based brand, Quadrant rely on content creation in terms of brand image. Content varies from YouTube videos (weekly videos on Wednesdays at 4pm, which kinda went out the window as of December 2021), TikToks, Instagram posts (yes, that does count as content) and Twitch streams. The Quadrant YouTube channel accrews around two thousand subscribers weekly, fluctuating relative to video release and content.

More recently, Quadrant have capitalised on less Covid restrictions to film more IRL content, including cooking videos, game show-inspired videos, challenges, get-to-know-the-squad videos, and vlogs.

As part of content creation, Quadrant have collaborated with numerous creators, including: Vikkstar123, Jarno Opmeer, Tiametmarduk, CouRageJD, Marcel Kiefer, Tommo McCluskey, TBJZL, WillNE, Haydon Guillis, Felix Von Der Laden, Jardier, Soundhead, Dani Moreno, Zerkaa, James Baldwin, Jimmy Broadbent, Mahaveer Ragunathan (yes, actually), MaximeMXM, TommyT999, Thibaut Courtois, F1Elly, Dr Lupo (kinda), Aldas, Pieface and Yas Heat.

Apparel

Quadrant release merchandise through limited merch drops, each with a different theme. The merch is designed by Will Kerr and approved by Lando and the rest of the team.

vONE: the first collection, in the team’s colours - black and fluro green/yellow. It included a black t-shirt with the split logo on the side and the full name on the chest, a black hoodie with the small full logo on the chest and “QUADRANT” on the sleeve, a black beanie printed with the black Q logo on the front, and a balck bucket hat with Qs printed over it. The hoodie and t-shirt was initially designed by Lando, then kept as the final design, with the bucket hat referencing the iconic Valentino Rossi one, reflecting Lando’s personality.

Speedshop: created in direct collaboration with Veloce, Quadrant released an exclusive merch line sold at the VeloceXQuadrant stand at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. After the event, it was made accessible to Quadrant Discord members, then to the public. The release included a black and cream hoodie and a black and white t-shirt with “QDRNT”, the number 4 and “Lando” printed on the back and sleeves.

Clover Motors: inspired by motorsport visuals, and the name taken from Lando’s number four, with “Clover” referring to a lucky clover with four leaves. The colours were different to that of the previous drops, and Quadnant’s aesthetic on a whole, moving to pink and blue. They released two hoodies, one grey with the signature at the front in blue and the large logo and phone number on the back, the other blue with the signature in pink and the logo smaller on the sleeve, also in pink. A jumper/sweatshirt was released in grey with the logo in the middle on the chest, the same design on one of the t-shirts. The other t-shirt was in blue with white printing: the signature on the front and the big logo and phone number on the back. They also released a long sleeved white shirt with white printing: the small logo on the front in the middle and the big logo and phone number on the back. The phone number was originally going to be connected to a voicemail from the team, with the idea scrapped because they couldn't get it to work, and it would exclude international fans.

Quadrant merch is considered expensive (and I’m not going to disagree, I have yet to cop my first piece), but they do adhere to quality standards, available on the website. The prices reflect the materials used and the workers putting the items together. The items are also shipped in biodegradable packaging. Following vONE, Quadrant supplied responding to demand in terms of sizes relative to the audience.

Over the time they have been active, they have acquired sponsorships from streaming hardware brand Elgato and travel brand Tumi. As well as this they had a paid partnership with Logitech, promoting an OLED monitor. Quadrant have streamed as part of the Gillette Gaming Alliance. Niran and Ria were invited to the LDNUTD x SamsungKX live All Access Gaming event (13th November 2021), and Niran and Max were invited to participate in McLaren Shadow’s Stream For Mind (28th October 2021).

Connecting with the Fans

When Quadrant begen, there was an emphasis on connecting the fans with the creators, through social media content and streams, later introducing an official Discord server. The Discord server was used to create a Q&A video, released in February 2021, collect Yes/No questions, ‘never have I ever’s and ‘who’s most likely to’s, and the ability to submit ideas for future content.

When Covid restrictions in the UK opened up, Quadrant announced their first IRL event - The Goodwood Festival of Speed, in partnership with Veloce, with a few Quadrant members rotating at the Veloce stand over the three days. A week later, the group attended the Formula One British Grand Prix, taking over a grandstand during Friday practice, and the FanZone following Sprint Qualifying. At the end of the season, they went to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but less as a fan-connection event. Quadrant have more plans for IRL events in the future.

For those who are unfamiliar, Discord is a mass-messaging platform (supporting instant messaging, voice calling, video calling, screenshare, etc), kinda like a ‘group chat (channel) within group chat (server)’ thing, with permissions based on user roles, used primarily in the gaming community to connect people when playing online, but has also expanded to cater for communities (it’s also my go-to messaging app lol). Discord operates through invite links to servers, and the link can be restricted to a set number of joins, a feature Quadrant utilises and gains criticism for. They usually distribute links with 25 or 50 ‘keys’, and on events, 100, usually via Twitter, Instagram stories, in Emails sent to fans signed up to the mailing list and Twitch chat (there is also one person who I know received a key via Twitter DMs but that was the only one). This has sparked some kind of criticism as it appears that the fans that do get access are ‘favouritised’, and has left fans waiting for keys since the server launch. The Discord server currently has just over 2,600 members (relative to the 450K subscribers), including Team Members, Veloce staff, moderators and bots.

A bit about Veloce

Veloce are the team that organised the ‘Not the GP…’ series during lockdown 2020, featuring Racing Drivers, Professional Simracers and Content Creators, the Veloce Squadsprint, a series of virtual simraces featuring Veloce’s in-house teams, and the Veloce Pro Series focussing on professional racing drivers - but in supercars. Veloce also entered three teams for the Virtual Le Mans 24 in 2020, partnering with drivers such as Jean-Eric Vergne (who’s also Veloce’s founder), Pierre Gasly, Norman Nato, Stoffel Vandoorne, Sacha Fenestraz and Ryan Tveter.

Quadrant is managed/handled by Veloce (the same overall company that compete in W Series and Extreme E, but their esports branch), and their members are also considered to be part of Veloce. Lando has a personal partnership with Veloce for Quadrant. Veloce manage other sim racing-oriented esports teams, such as McLaren Shadow, Sauber Esports, Mercedes AMG Esports and Yas Heat, as well as the in-house team. Quadrant’s manager from March 2020 to November 2021 (Nathan Tague) was also McLaren Shadow’s manager, before departing the Veloce circle to pursue a new challenge. Aarav, Niran and Ria have appeared on Veloce Esports’ Backseat Driver (a ‘live reaction’ to Formula One races) (pre Pitwall launch) and most of the Quadrant members have appeared on the Veloce channel. A lot of Quadrant’s staff also work for Veloce. Notable staff include Kate Hewitt (Social Media), Mickey O’Brian (Marketing/Socials), Cam Royal (not entirely sure, I think he took over from Nathan when he left, he was in charge of Quadrant for both Abu Dhabi trips (discord admin)), and Isaac Forcella (production lead) Jamie MacLaurin (I think he's their manager now, also in charge of the money stuff).

(All stats are correct to the 8th January 2022)

[wetsteve3]

Dale's Wheels Through Time In 2006 Harley Davidson introduced the V-rod Destroyer, a purpose built drag racing motorcycle. This Destroyer was raced by legend Ray Price out of his Harley dealership in Raleigh, NC. Price was a renowned designer, engineer and the first drag racer to be sponsored by Harley-Davidson. He also developed the first wheelie bar, and the two-speed automatic racing transmission for drag racing motorcycles.

[retro-vgm-revival-hour]

Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits REVISITED

Greetings and Salutations!

Thank you so much for Your continued support for this channel and everything we have done thus far.

Everyone who has taken the time out of their schedules to watch anything and everything we do here at the Nostalgia Road Trip really means a lot to us and there is no better way to reward your continued support but with a Music Video Marathon.

As the title suggest, we revisit the old 90s album (an Cartoon network/TBS television special) Saturday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits and give it our own unique spin on the special/tribute album. Gone are the Drew Barrymore hosted segments that were in the beginning, middle and end of the songs and we replaced it with more footage of the cartoons While also including some tracks from other Various Cartoon shows of the 90s. It is something that we have wanted to do for quite some time and hope that it will bring a smile to those that remembered this particular album. For those who don't remember, then we have a treat for you, because we guarantee you the greatest experience for both your eyes and ears as you embark on a tour de force of sights and sounds from the various bands of the 90s with their amazing renditions of classic cartoon theme songs.

So it is because of that, and your support for this channel, that we wanted to do something for you all to lift up your spirits and bring a happy smile to your face with SATURDAY MORNING cartoon's greatest Hits REVISITED!!!! (P.S: Two tracks had to be omitted from the original soundtrack as YouTube Copyright was not allowing us to use them, But we think the replacement tracks we made to take their place will make surely make up for those) with that out of the way LET'S START THE SHOW!!!!!!!!

                              Complete track listing:

1.) Dig "Fat Albert Theme" (from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids) Ricky Sheldon & Edward Fournier 01:14:19

2.) Violent Femmes "Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah (Means I Love You)" (from The Jetsons) William Hanna, Joseph Barbera & Hoyt Curtin   05:00:06

3.) The Reverend Horton Heat "Jonny Quest/Stop That Pigeon" (from Jonny Quest/Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines) William Hanna, Joseph Barbera & Hoyt Curtin   08:28:10

4.) Sponge "Go Speed Racer Go" (from Speed Racer) Nobuyoshi Koshibe  11:37:15

5.) Helmet "Gigantor" (from Gigantor) Louis C. Singer & Eugene Raskin  14:44:19

6.) Liz Phair with Material Issue "The Tra La La Song" (from The Banana Splits Adventure Hour) Mark Barkan & Ritchie Adams  18:57:22

7.) Juliana Hatfield & Tanya Donelly "Josie and the Pussycats" (from Josie and the Pussycats) Denby Williams, Joseph Roland & Hoyt Curtin  22:11:15

8.) Tripping Daisy "Friends/Sigmund and the Sea monsters" (from Sigmund and the Sea Monsters) Danny Janssen & Bobby Hart  25:03:14

9.) Mary Lou Lord w/ Semisonic "Sugar, Sugar" (from The Archie Show) Jeff Barry & Andy Kim  29:25:07

10.) Toadies "Goolie Get-Together" (from The Groovie Goolies) Linda Martin & Janis Gwin  33:17:15

11.) Face to Face "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" (from Popeye) Sammy Lerner  37:03:13

12.) The Murmurs "H.R. Pufnstuf" (from H.R. Pufnstuf) Les Szarvas & Paul Simon  39:58:06

13.) Frente! "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In" (from The Flintstones) Stuart Hamblen  43:16:09

14.) Wax "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" (from The Ren and Stimpy Show) Charlie Brissette & Christopher Reccardi  46:47:06

15.) The Ramones "Spider-Man" (from Spider-Man) Robert "Bob" Harris & Paul Francis Webster  50:26:01

16.) Butthole Surfers "Underdog" (from Underdog) Chester Stover, Watts Biggers, Treadwell Covington & Joseph Harris  52:32:05

17.) Matthew Sweet "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" (from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!) David Mook & Ben Raleigh  56:25:02

18.) Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk "Sailor Moon" (from Sailor Moon) Misuzu Takahashi, Mari Nishimoto & Misae Takamatsu  59:36:05

19.) Steve Nelson & Thomas Sharp "Darkwing Duck" (from Darkwing Duck) Philip Giffin  1:00:58:21

20.) The Tender Box "Spectacular Spider-Man" (from The Spectacular Spider-Man)  1:03:50:03

21.) Downstait "Fight As One" (from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes) Bad City  1:06:21:04

22.) Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk "Astro Boy" (From Astro Boy) Donald Rockwell & Tatsuo Takai  1:09:51:04

23.) Memo Aguirre, Nick Carr, & Noam Kaniel "He-Man Main Theme": Spanish Version (from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) Shuki Levy  1:11:22:09

24.) Dj Lee (Youtube) "G0, Gadget! Go!" (from Inspector Gadget) Shuki Levy & Haim Saban  1:13:21:20

25.) The Jets "Rescue Rangers Theme" (from Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers) Mark Mueller  1:16:16:22

26.) Dale Schacker "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs"(from Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs) Charles Bernstein  1:19:53:21

27.) Lion "Transformers" ((from The Transformers) Vince DiCola, Ford Kinder, Anne Bryant, Norman Swan & Douglas Aldrich  1:22:22:10

28.) The Covers Duo (Youtube) "Go Go Power Rangers" (from The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) Ron Wasserman, Haim Saban & Shuki Levy  1:25:58:04

[urbanadventureleague]

A state of the bike fleet at the end of 2021, and what the future might bring

A state of the bike fleet at the end of 2021, and what the future might bring

The current fleet What a year for my bicycles. What an unexpected year. When I filed my “Looking ahead to 2021” post at the end of last year, my take on the fleet was this: My fleet of bikes is as good as it’ll ever be, so no major upgrades. And probably no new bikes either. Ha! How wrong was that! My “good as it’ll ever be” fleet of bikes got reduced by two, with the possibility of one more…

[bryanreganphotography]

Day - 316 I need this t-shirt

[heyyy-hey-babyyy]

Take Care

Summary: While on a hunt in West Virginia, the trio literally run into a group of campers. While on the search for some help they run into a new unknown foe. 

Pairing: Dean X reader, Sam x Reader,

WARNINGS: Canon-typical violence, horror movie scenes

Wrong Turn (2003) Fusion with Supernatural

2457 words.

Notes: Please note that I changed the plot a bit, because some of it would not make sense if the main characters were Dean and Sam Winchester. Just saying. 

Spoilers for Wrong Turn (2003) below.

The Impala screamed down the interstate, Dean drumming his fingers on the wheel, barely listening to Sam yammer on about the case we were heading toward. You smirked to yourself, one ear bud in your ear so you could hear the boys up front, and caught Dean throw you a wink in the rear-view window.

“So it looks like at least three people have gone missing in the last few days, two of them skilled free climbers. They haven’t found any bodies or proof that either of them were even there. Not even a vehicle.” Sam finished glancing up at the road from his phone a distant look in his eyes.

“How do we know they were ever there then?” Dean asked casually, maneuvering the car around a slow-moving pickup truck, placing both hands on the wheel for a moment.

“GPS.” Sam responded back. “Their phones were still on until recently.”

You glanced out the window at the highway rushing past, noticing how wooded this area was. You had never been to West Virginia, and certainly never this far off the grid, your phone losing service by the second. Huffing out a sigh, you put it on airplane mode to conserve the battery, clicking through your “Impala playlist.” You often got “road trip anxiety” as Dean liked to call it, and being sprawled out in the backseat with some music was the only cure. The Impala began to slow and you heard Dean curse under his breath, prompting you to pop your head up behind the front seat. There was a heavy traffic jam ahead, a couple semi-trucks nearest the car. Dean slowed the Impala to a stop and slammed his hand down on the dashboard in frustration.

“Relax,” Sam muttered, glancing back at you and rolling his eyes, before stepping out of the Impala up to the semi-trucks. All of the vehicles seemed to have their engines either idling or off, and you could hear Sam clearly up ahead.

“Hey, do you have an idea what’s going on up here,” Sam asked as a trucker with wild hair stuck his head out the window.

“Tractor jackknifed about five mile up,” the trucker responded, spitting some chew at Sam’s feet. “Spilled chemicals and shit all over the road.”

Sam glanced back at us quick before turning back to the trucker. “Any idea how long it’ll take to clean up?”

“Couple hours,” the guy responded, a sigh escaping from Dean’s mouth that identically matched the one out of Sam’s up ahead.

“You in a hurry?” The trucker continued. Sam glanced up at him quickly, clearly weighing his response. You were secretly glad that he decided to talk to the man rather than Dean. The older Winchester was good with people, but you could feel his frustration rising, having sat still for almost ten minutes now.

“Yeah,” Sam finally stated. “We,” he continued gesturing toward the Impala. “are trying to get up toward Raleigh by tonight.”

The trucker nodded, “Well, what you oughta do is get back in your car, fix your hair a couple hundred more times—”

“Thank you,” Sam simply stated walking away quickly before the guy could finish. You stifled a laugh in the backseat, and Dean was coughing into his hand to hide his own when Sam returned.

“Shut up.” Sam muttered. “Road won’t be clear for a while. Let’s back track and see if we can find another way.”

Dean nodded, cough laughing one more time before backing the Impala up expertly and heading in the opposite direction of the traffic jam. You all drove for another thirty minutes or so while Sam navigated toward some side roads, until his phone lost service completely, Dean shook his head in frustration and turned roughly onto a dirt road, a wooden sign stating “Gas, 1 Mile.” Pulling up to what could only be described as a shack, Dean parked the Impala and threw an arm over the bench seat, turning toward you.

“You don’t have to go to the bathroom, do you?” He asked lowly. You shook your head no, and he nodded his. “Good, stay in the car.” It was more of a demand than request, and normally you would fight him, but the abandoned gas station filled you with unease, and you felt much safer hunkered down in the backseat. Sam glanced at you and smiled, before opening the door with a creak.

_______________________________________________________________________

Dean mirrored his brother, and walked toward the man out front who was wearing nothing but a wife-beater and seemed to be sitting on a beer keg.

“Excuse me, sir,” Sam started, as the two approached. “Do you have a payphone?” The man gestured with a bottle of Pepto-Bismol in his hand, and Sam headed in that direction, muttering that he was going to check in with Cas. Dean chose to keep close to the man and glance at the map framed on the wall next to him. The man continued to drink his Pepto quietly, letting it dribble down his chin. Sam stopped at the payphone, picking up the receiver and clicking the hook a couple times, before loudly dropped the receiver back down to its home.

“This one’s not working,” Sam huffed out. “Do you have another phone I could use?”

“Long distance?” The man asked quietly. Sam looked quickly at his brother for help, raising his arms and dropping them down slowly.

“What isn’t long distance from here?” Dean asked gruffly, coming to stand next to his brother, who was much more paitent.

“You cuttin’ wise with me son?”

“No,” Sam decided to cut in. “Sir, we are just looking to make a call.”

“Well, that’n there is my only phone.”

“Right.” Dean answered, shoving his hands into his pockets, and looking back at Y/N in the backseat. “The highway is really jammed up. Do you know of another route heading south?”

“Nope.”

Dean shook his head and headed back over to the map. “Why is this ‘Bear Mountain Road’ dotted on the map?” He asked, turning his head toward the man.

“Dirt. ‘fraid they ain’t got around to pavin’ it yet.”

“It looks like it runs into the highway about 15, 20 miles.” Dean said more to Sam than anyone else.

“If you say so.” The man answered anyway. Dean headed back toward the Impala, Sam following behind. “Thank you very much.” He said toward the man. “You take care.”

The boys were back into the Impala and tearing off with a cloud of dust, so they didn’t hear the man mutter after them, “You’re the one gonna need take care.”

_______________________________________________________________________

You all kept driving for another half hour or so, Dean finding the dirt road easily enough, and continuing down it, muttering to himself about washing Baby later. The road was surprisingly smooth, and Sam went back to checking out his phone for service, when the Impala suddenly seized up, jolting you to an upright position, your wrist steadying yourself on the side door and bending a little too far back. With the wheels locked up the Impala continued to slide on the smooth dirt, crashing harshly into a white jeep parked in the middle of the road, the screech of metal drowning out any other sounds.

“Y/N” you heard from your fog, shaking your head to hear more clearly.

“Sweetheart,” Dean said, pulling your face toward him lightly, his other hand grabbing at your hurt wrist. You hissed loudly, ripping it away, and leaning back into the seat out of his grasp. Sam was out of the car in a second and leaning into the backseat to look at both your head, which you only then realized was bleeding, and your wrist.  The Impala spinning and crashing caused you to hit your head as you weren’t buckled in from the awkward angle you were laying in. You muttered that you were fine, but Sam wasn’t listening, instantly going to wrap up your wrist, and apply a butterfly bandage to your head. You realized Dean wasn’t in the car any longer, and strained to see what was going on outside.

It looked like Dean was talking to a group of people, who were dressed like they were going hiking. They were talking animatedly, and Sam hurried wrapping up your wrist, so you both could get out of the car and investigate. Once he was done, you slipped out of the back seat to a standing position, testing your balance. Sam’s hand never left your lower back, keeping you steady as you walked up to the group.

“How did you blow your tires?” Dean was asking as we approached, a girl with short red hair explaining. “Someone left some barbed wire in the middle of the road.” Dean nodded his head, glancing at Baby and seeing identical barbed wire attached harshly to her front tires.

“I can’t believe someone just dropped it there,” the girl with the long brown hair said with exasperation, throwing her hands in the air.

“Nobody dropped anything.” Another woman stated, coming around the corner. “I just found this tied to a tree back there. Somebody did this.”

“Redneck hospitality at its finest,” the guy in the yellow shirt muttered in response. Dean shifted to put an arm around your shoulder protectively, noticing you standing next to him. He frowned at the bandage on your head and around your wrist, but you waved him off.

“I’m gonna try and find a phone,” the woman with the barbed wire discovery stated. “I think I saw a gas station like a couple miles back.”

“We were just there.” Sam stated, the newcomers turning toward him. “There is no phone.”

“Okay, why don’t we just wait for someone else to come along?” Another woman suggested, glancing from her group members to us.

“What like speed racer here?” The barbwire woman said, pointing at Dean who scowled, pulling you closer to him.

“Look, I’m not going anywhere.” The redhead stated, looking at the guy standing next to her, who must be her boyfriend. “You guys go and we’ll just stay here, Francine.” The new group continued to bicker about Francine and her boyfriend getting high when the woman with the long brown hair walked up to us.

“Hey,” she said. “What’re your names?” She looked genuinely curious.

“Dean,” He replied. “And this is Y/N and Sam.” Dean continued gesturing toward you and his brother. The Winchester’s were having a silent conversation about what to do next when the woman walked up. 

“You guys hurt?” She asked again casually. Sam and Dean shook their heads looking at you, and you did the same.

“Good,” The woman replied. “Then let’s go.”

_______________________________________________________________________

You walked along with three members of the other group, who you learned were Jessie, Carly, and her boyfriend Scott. The brothers decided to go along if only to find a phone and call up Cas. The road was flanked by deep woods on either side, giving the bright sunny day a clouded feel, and making you shiver slightly in your plain shirt, Dean reaching back to take your hand, but you brushed him off slightly, knowing he was only worried about you. The boys continued to walk, Sam asking Scott what they were all doing out here, quickly learning that the five of them were camping. Scott was very talkative, launching into a speech about trauma and slow-motion movements, making Dean chuckle lowly. You couldn’t help but be drawn to these people in a way that you haven’t been since meeting the Winchesters and joining them on the road. Scott was infectious, and Carly had a positivity about her that eased the entire group as they walked. Jessie was hard to read, but that made you like her even more, as she seemed to match Dean’s sarcasm and kept everyone on their toes.

You walked with everyone, silently taking it all in when the red and orange glow of a burning fire caught your eyes. You stopped abruptly, Dean following suite, looking up into the woods.

“Hello! Anyone up there!” Scott yelled from next to you. Dean looked at him cautiously, weighing rather to tell him to keep his voice down, when Sam spoke up.

“Somebody must have started it.” You all kept walking, you hanging behind to stare at the fire.

You couldn’t help but feel like you were being watched in those few moments. It made you uneasy, but you chalked it up to the many wild creatures who were sure to be buried in the dense forest.

The feeling didn’t last long, as you trudged quickly up a hill to keep up with the others, a wooden cabin coming into view. Scott and Carly ran up ahead, the brothers and you hanging back, not liking the look of the abandoned cabin.

“Looks like we’ve just been saved kids!” Scott yelled, heading toward the entrance. The cabin was surrounded by cars and looked like the roof was about to cave in.

“We make this quick.” Dean stated to you and Sam, Sam nodding, and reaching back for the gun hidden in his waistband. The land was filled with abandoned rusted cars and random objects, an old bike drawing your attention briefly. Dean approached the door and pulled at the screen.

“What are you doing?” Jessie asked cautiously.

Dean stopped, looking at her questioningly, used to the third degree from you, but not from a stranger.

“We need to see if they have a phone.” You stated quietly.

“And I have to pee.” Carly continued with a whine.

“Okay, but West Virginia and trespassing are not a good mix…” Scott answered trailing off lightly.

“Guys,” Sam started, always the voice of reason. “We have two wrecked cars…” Carly nodded vigorously, and Dean inched the door open further, entering the building.

The place was a complete mess, dust flying around and flies buzzing noisily. There were a few half eaten dinners set on the kitchen table, and a record playing on a phonograph in the corner.

“Okay, who lives here?” Scott asked, panic lacing his voice. “I think we should go.”

Dean continued to look around, Sam and you venturing further into the house while Carly and Scott continued to argue. Scott finally settled down and went to help Carly find a bathroom, opening a door to the side that was filled with random objects. You continued to look stumbling upon stacks of sunglasses and keys, items that made you all the more uneasy.

“Sam,” You whispered. He looked over at you carefully, and you held up some of the keys. “We need to go.” Sam nodded quickly and headed into the kitchen to grab Dean. Suddenly, a truck began to pull up, chains clinking and clanging loudly. You ran to the window and looked out, unsure of what was coming toward you, when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned around startled and Dean grabbed you roughly around the waist, diving under the nearby bed, taking you with him. You watched as Sam found Scott and Carly and quickly pulled them into another room, just in time for the doors to slam open, and heavy footsteps thud through the entryway.

Read part II here!

[inspector-montoya-fox]

#4 - Fire in the Sky

Setting: this is out first snow level in the series, and damn does it set the bar high. let’s ignore the fact that the Panda King’s turf is an illegal scheme, and describe the hubs as serene. lanterns and cherry blossoms prevail. the pagodas make for excellent progressive gameplay, as we gradually make our way to the top. this is the episode with the most variation in gameplay: standard platforming, hover blaster, covering for Murray, racing, running away from Carmelita. but it doesn’t feel like too much, unlike Vicious Voodoo. i think it strikes a good balance because of how huge the platforming levels are. i’ll get into more detail about this point in the Characters section but China is the only setting that isn’t extremely affected by the baddie. for Sir Raleigh, everything was metallic, grand and elegant; for Muggshot, we were served with a level full of dumpster fires and graffiti; Mz Ruby’s spookiness made every level feel like a nightmare; but the Panda King doesn’t affect the location. sure, there’s the Panda King gate at the beginning or the flame pattern every now and then, but in general, this is China, not the Panda King’s China. i honestly love that. oh, and y’know, Fire in the Sky is purple, enhancing the tranquillity of the episode.

Characters: i’ll be real with y’all: Panda King was kinda meh. maybe it’s because he came directly after the two legends that were Muggshot and Mz Ruby. we have a character whose main trait is being angry enough to spark fires from his palms, but that’s all there is. other than that, he just mumbles his words. Sly 3 manages to squeeze some more out of the character by having him self-reflect, etc. but in Sly 1 he’s just an angry goof. despite this, i don’t think he’s a waste or anything. actually, SP did an excellent job of making him this way. Fire in the Sky represents a turning point in the game (more on that in the Themes section). as i’ve mentioned, the previous three episodes were defined by their villain, the landscapes predominantly designed after the baddies’ personalities; here we get a villain whose lacking character. that’s great because this takes the focus away from the Panda King and places it on Sly instead. without the Panda King constantly bombarding our screen with panda items or panda gates or panda fences, we notice other things such as Murray heading into the field twice or Sly’s development (more on that in a sec). so the Panda King plays his part perfectly. Carmelita makes her comeback after we last saw her floating away on the Muggshot balloon. see, her part in Fire in the Sky was what motivated me to write my essay on if the series is misogynist. the woman is just trying to do her job and is instead painted as a hot-headed bitch. Sly tries to tell her that these quaint temples are a front for an illegal explosives factory as if she’s too incompetent an inspector to figure things out. and not only that, but we also shoot fireworks at her until she drops into that foggy pit. it kinda irks me that Carmelita always manages to catch up to the scene of the crime after Sly is done with the bossfight, as if she needs Sly to take down the baddies (and this is seen again in Cold Heart of Hate). that’s why i love SP’s treatment of Carmelita in Sly 2 and 3: she roams the hubs because she’s on par with us, she takes down baddies by herself. meanwhile, Sly's journey towards becoming a master thief is reaching its end (if you were collecting all the book pages along the way). gaining the shadow power truly makes the player feel like a true thief. i don’t want to say that the levels become progressively harder (especially with Panda King being so easy to take down) but necessary skills are needed to traverse the levels and Sly has collected the ninja spire jump, the railslide move, and invisibility, plus all the extra moves from the vaults. his arsenal feels powerful, almost complete.

Themes: oohwee! i’ve been anticipating this moment. Sly’s bubble of naiveté finally bursts when we witness an entire village being avalanched on. up to now, the villains talked about and dwelled over their crazy schemes, but weren’t actually shown doing something bad (relative term). but now, right off the bat, the Panda King kills innocent people and we get to watch it. this is the departure from the jolly ride we’ve had, Sly coming to terms with how serious the situation is. the theme of fire perfectly captures the climax in the game’s structure, because a fire is lit under Sly’s ass. this turning point might be brought about by innocent deaths, but is completely necessary for our protagonist since it’s exactly what he needs to face the upcoming Clockwerk. i’m not sure if he finally gets it, but he certainly isn’t in the same mindset as in the previous three episodes. fire is explosive, hot, chaotic, and that’s this episode’s description. it also comes into stark contrast with the level’s tranquil nature. the snowfall, the ethereal music, the predominant purple: all these hint at China’s Buddhist beliefs on zen (later seen in Sly 3 with the Panda King’s enlightenment) and are “contradicted” by the violence, the fire, and the fast-paced music that plays when you get into trouble. setting plays a huge role in this episode. other than my explanation for dampening the Panda King to pave the way for Sly’s development, i think SP couldn’t really make a China level and overlook the culture. it’s not really a theme, but the culture and the display of ethnography is outstanding. as i’ve said above, we’re truly in China, or at least SP’s makeshift version of the country, the Westerner’s perception of Asia as a whole. it affects the gameplay, nonetheless. other motifs worth mentioning: monkeys, symmetry, and altitude. on the latter two, everything feels exhilaratingly high, perfectly constructed, and clean. i know Sly 1′s design is clunky and chunky, like the animation’s thick lines with sharp edges and corners, but here it works with the level.

What I Like: i can’t decide. the whole episode is a fucking mood. some of you often question why this is my favourite game in the series and to that i say ‘it’s a mood’. the music, the pagodas, the snow, the colouring, the fact that you destroy that huge dragon while Carmelita is on it. favourite detail would have to be the fact that you can kill the training pole monkeys in Flaming Temple of Flame. lanterns !!!!!!! mf lanterns, man...

What I Don’t Like: how Sly didn’t explode when he attached himself to a huge fucking rocket and blasted himself wtf. um, i gave the racing a chance in Sunset Snake Eyes, but it won’t get away so easily here. it feels sloppy: the opposing racers are all the same unlike its predecessor, and the slippery ice patches are a pain in the ass. also, something that always irritated me is a small detail: in Rapid Fire Assault, there’s one part on the conveyor belt where you can use the hover blaster to blast down a hole in the wall across you, but it doesn’t serve any purpose. so why put it there? it doesn’t even give you any coins. like... ugh, what??

Quote: No, that's only half right. I am a thief, from a long line of master thieves. While you... you're just a frustrated firework artist turned homicidal pyromaniac.

[alicescripts]

Live ep: The Finish Line

Transcribed by olanovena. Many thanks!

To catch you up...um...shit. Ok. I went looking for my wife, Alice, who I thought was dead. She wasn’t dead. Years passed. We encountered monsters and alternate dimensions, and I think I hung out with a ghost once. Then Alice and I, we came home. That’s basically the story, short version, anyway. Sometimes you don’t need the details, you know? Ok. And so, then, here is what happened after. 

We got restless, sometimes. The paradox is that when you travel endlessly, all you want is home, and then you finally reach that long-awaited homecoming only to find that the miles have gotten into your blood. Your body thrums with movement, and staying still feels like clothes that don’t quite fit. The whole rest of your life becomes an attempt to balance these two dissatisfactions. It’s great to be human sometimes. [chuckles] So, Alice and I, we decided to go on a road trip. This time, we wouldn’t be on any sort of mission to do anything, we could just wander. Or, that was the plan. Plans, right? We met up with Tanya. We loved Tanya, and didn’t want to fall out of touch with him just because we were no longer in a secret underground organization together fighting for our lives. You know how we can be after that, it’s like a few texts, an email, and then you see a person on Facebook and realized you hadn’t thought of them in years, and we did not want that. So, we bought ourselves an RV, and off we went. It’s a couple of hours south of Palm Springs, east of Raleigh, out past the Chocolate Mountains, and there is a remote town known for an illegal race out on an abandoned highway that once led somewhere and now doesn’t. The story was that it was a race that allowed the racers to meet God. So...yeah, we went right to that town, obviously. The place was small, as in, an intersection. On one corner, a gas station. On another corner, a bar. No sign on the bar except a few neon beer logos. We stayed in the RV, although there was nowhere to hook it up to anything. It still felt cleaner than the motel several miles back, and the gas station bathrooms were 24 hours. Having scoped out the whole town by standing in one spot and turning around real slow, we went into the bar with no sign. There was a group at a table in the corner and a couple of people sitting at the bar. Folks at the bar introduced themselves as Lisa and Luis. No one behind the bar, but when we asked about beer, Lisa went around to the broken fridge and happily sold us lukewarm cans of Coors. I’m not clear she worked there. I’m not clear anyone did. We asked about the race on the abandoned highway. Both of them got real quiet. Finally, it was Lisa that talked. “Oh, we take that real serious,” said Lisa. “Outsiders don’t really get it,” said Luis. “But if you wanna stay and watch, can’t stop you,” she said. “Outsiders don’t really get it,” said Luis. I said that they might be surprised by what we’d get and what we had seen, but they didn’t have much to say about that, and we kind of drank in silence for a while. Which wasn’t bad, all things considered. After the last few years, I’ll take some quiet. We asked when the next race was. “Tonight, after dark,” said one of the people in the corner. Said their name was Tito. I got the feeling every person in this bar, maybe every person in this town, such as it was, took part in these races. I got the feeling that’s the only reason anyone would live out in a place like this. “Got a specific time?” said Tanya. “Or y’all just kinda go by gut?” “After dark,” said Tito again. And that was that. So, as dusk gave into darkness, we sat on top of the RV, parked a few blocks down the road from the intersection that was the town. And we looked out for anything that could be a race. A couple hours before, just about the whole town had cleared out, driving cars out to the north where the desert really gets desolate. Lots of the cars didn’t look like racers. Old sedans, pickup trucks with tires just this side of flat. It felt intrusive to follow, so we stayed and looked that direction. Just waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, as it got dark, we heard the sounds of engines. We saw headlights tearing across the empty, and then we saw a pillar of flame. It had to be a half-mile high. And then it was gone. A second there, a second not. “What in the hell?” said Alice. “Uh…hahaha... This is getting good,” said Tanya, hunching down on his heels. There was the sound of music, like um...a violin. Only, a violin the size of the world. I felt it in my bones. And then the car engines faded, headlights disappeared, no more violin. “Well,” I said. “We went looking for weird. I think we found weird!” Spent a hot and restless night in that powerless RV, and at sunrise, we went hiking. I kept a close eye out for rattlesnakes and scorpions. I mean, the world scares me, but I would argue that this is a rational response to the world. We came across a cairn, stones piled high up maybe twenty feet, decorated with latex paint and car parts. It was a shrine. We all felt it. Um…a place of worship. Out here, east of Raleigh, near the Chocolate Mountains. The centerpiece was the big hood of a truck, turned on its side and painted like a sign. “The World Makes,” it said. “He Takes.” “Shit,” I said. “I’d say this here is a religion,” said Tanya. “Yeah, I’d say you’re right,” said Alice. That afternoon, back at the bar with no name and maybe no owner. Same scene as yesterday, Lisa and Luis posted up on stools, Tito and their friends over in the corner. “That was really something,” I said over the beers Lisa grabbed us. “We offer ourselves every night,” said Lisa, “and we hope that someday He will take us.” “Take?” I said. “Our races are an act of worship,” said Luis. “Outsiders don’t really get it.” “Most nights, we offer ourselves up on that highway,” said Tito. “And sometimes, the winner, they get accepted.” “What happens to people who get accepted?” asked Alice. “The world makes!” said Lisa. “He takes!” “So… Sometimes the winner of these races, they just disappear?” I asked. “No,” said Tito. “They are accepted! Someday, we all will be. ‘Til then, we wait our turn. We race until He takes us. And then we don’t have to worry anymore.” “Woohee, I love this town!” said Tanya. Back at the RV that evening, we compared notes. “This is the most entertaining bullshit I have ever seen,” said Tanya. “Yeah, I’ve seen too much to find this funny,” said Alice. “If they say the winner is sometimes accepted or taken or whatever they wanna call it, then I believe them.” “What about you, Keisha?” asked Tanya. [sighs] “I don’t know,” I said. The wind kicked in cool from the west, a memento of the distant ocean. “I just… I don’t know.” That night, we went out with the caravan of racers, piling into Tanya’s Jeep that we had towed with the RV, following the convoy to the abandoned highway, its asphalt worn smooth by fine grit carried by a wind and tires. The cars and trucks solemnly lined up where the highway dissipated into desert. A single air horn was blown, and off they went into the night. There was no column of fire. I heard no violin song. It was a race between old and beat-up cars. Luis won, I think. He came driving back. “All of you here?” called out Tanya. “No one was accepted tonight,” said Tito. “See, what did I tell you all?” Tanya said to Alice and I. “Total bullshit. I love it!” The next morning, once more to the bar. What else was there to do? Except leave, I suppose. [sighs] I suppose we could’ve always done that, but we were not the type. We’re the type that keeps pushing until something goes wrong. Speaking of which… “I want in,” said Tanya. “Let me race.” Everyone was quiet. Then, Lisa spoke. “We won’t stop you. Everyone has the right to offer, as long as they understand that any offer might get accepted.” “Kickass,” said Tanya. Luis shook his head, finished his beer, crushed the can, threw it behind the bar, and left. “This is silly,” said Alice later as the sun sauntered off the scene. “What if it’s real? We get home safe, and you throw it away for this?” “Alice,” said Tanya, “It’s not real! And anyway, even if it was, being accepted doesn’t sound that bad. Some of us don’t get accepted that often by anything.” And then I said, “I want to go with you,” before I knew I was doing it. I had just seen so much in this world, and it had made me greedy, I – I wanted to see more. Alice didn’t say anything. She didn’t have the right to stop me, and she knew it. I got in the passenger seat of Tanya’s Jeep, and we joined the convoy one more time. As the dark settled, we joined the lineup. The highway in front of us curved down a bowl of a valley before coming up on the other side. It felt like I could see twenty miles in front of me. The air horn went off, and Tanya accelerated hard off the line. “I love this shit!” Tanya said. We were quickly in the lead, given that so many of these cars weren’t in any shape to race. Out in front, it felt less like driving and more like falling. We hurtled down the bowl of the valley, and it felt like we would collapse forever into the dark in front of us, and then– That column of fire. It was so tall, and yet I felt no heat. For a moment, the entire world was alight, and then it was gone. I heard music that felt like it was playing in my bones, reverberating in my skin. Tanya didn’t seem to notice anything; he was set on winning. I looked up, and where before there had been a field of stars, now I saw that the stars had...arranged themselves into a face. It wasn’t a human face, the- the configuration was dizzying and alien, but somehow, still, I knew it was a face...looking down at us. I wanted to scream, but I was afraid that if I did, then the face made of stars would scream back. And ahead, I saw flares on the highway. Markers for the finish line. The only other car close to us was Lisa, and she was a few lengths back. Tanya was going to win. Sometimes, the winner gets accepted, and then they never come back, and– ok, I don’t believe that. Ok, that-that was just one of those stories that gets told in the places where they never bother to run power lines, but I saw that face made of stars. I knew that I would see it for the rest of my life. “Slow down, Tanya,” I said. “Slow down, hell!” he said. “We’ve got this in the bag!” “Tanya!” I said, and he heard the desperation in my voice, and that shook him out of it. “Tanya,” I said. “Let someone else win.” And he did. He eased off, and Lisa passed us and crossed the finish line. And what happened next would be hard to describe. I saw the stars reach down and take her. Not like a-a hand made of stars; the movement was more abstract than that. The entire universe came down to this one little spot in the desert, and it scooped Lisa’s car up, and then snapped back into the infinite. Lisa was gone. Neither Tanya nor I spoke. When the world says that to you, how do you even begin to say anything back? [exhales] We returned to the bar. Alice threw her arms around both of us. “I thought you were gone,” she said. “I’m right here,” I said. There was a celebratory mood among the racers. Tito got everyone drinks from the fridge. “So, where is Lisa?” I said. “She’s gone!” Tito said. “She got accepted. No one who gets accepted comes back.” “Will you miss her?” I asked. “Hell, we’ll celebrate her!” They cheered, and they drank the warm beer and hugged until the night wore on ‘til late, and they retired to wherever it was that they all slept, because they were going to do the race all over again tomorrow. With one less racer than they had a few days before. I stumbled out to the intersection, not sure how to understand this bargain that they were making with...whatever it was I had seen. Luis came out after. He had been quiet, the least celebratory. He had been Lisa’s friend, after all. He smiled, put one warm hand on my hand, and said, as gentle as he could, “Outsiders don’t really get it.” He squeezed my hand once and walked off, and I never saw him or any of them again. I wonder, now, if I went down to Raleigh and then headed out east past the Chocolate Mountains, would I ever even be able to find that place again? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. We got back in our RV, drove back to Alice and I’s home, where we lived, where we belonged, where we would build the rest of our lives. “I love you!” I said to Tanya. “Stay in touch!” “Stay in touch, shit!” said Tanya, sweeping me into a tight hug. “I’ll be seeing you on our next trip. I bet that RV can carry us to some truly strange places, mm?” Then, Alice and I stood, arm in arm, watching him drive his Jeep away, and then we were alone. I caught her gaze, and she caught mine, and we laughed. I don’t know why we laughed. Sometimes, when the universe stares down at you with its cold, alien eyes, there is nothing more human than to look back...and to laugh.