Cruise, rumors, and a rat fink

A few local things to do. On Saturday at Northpark Mall from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the River Valley Classics are going to host a cruise-in. I also heard there’s a car show in Buffalo, but didn’t get any more details.

There’s a lot of rumors around about new cars coming soon. From Ford, the Shelby GT is coming out due to consumer approval of the Hertz GT. Both are supposed to put out 320 horsepower.
Also from from Ford the sale of Astin Martin is supposed to happen at any time. From GM, Impala is slated to make a big comeback in 2010 as a rear-wheel-drive, V-8 powered touring sedan. The only Mopar rumor is more of a question; why not make a covertable Challenger?

Tales of the Rat Fink, the semi-autobiographical story of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, will soon be available on DVD
Tales of the Rat Fink, the semi-autobiographical film about Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, will come to DVD October 31 after finishing its run of art houses and film festivals.
The movie, which we told you about back in February, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, March 10-12. Ron Mann, director of 1988’s Comic Book Confidential, along with a few lesser-known films, directed Tales. John Goodman voiced Roth in the mostly animated film, while an eclectic rogues’ gallery that includes Ann-Margret, the Smothers Brothers, Jay Leno, Tom Wolfe, Robert Williams, Billy Gibbons and Matt Groening rounds out the list. Roth reportedly told Goodman before he died that he would one day portray the Rat Fink.
For Roth fans who can’t wait until Halloween to see the film, it will play at the Woodstock, New York, film festival October 12 and at The Ridge in Vancouver, British Columbia, October 27. For info go to website.

Bailey, Colorado shooting

Just 39 miles from where the Columbine school shootings took place another happened yesterday. A 16 year old girl and the shooter are dead and everyone is shocked. How can a grown adult just walk in a rural high school without someone challenging his right to be there. This is just getting out of hand and something needs to be done. I wouldn’t begin to imagine I have an answer, but someone should. For more on this go to QC Times. For another story on this one with a different slant go to MSN. Our thoughts and prayers are with this community.

Car club theft

There was a story today inside the front section of the QC Times about a treasurer of a local car club who was arrested for taking club money for personal use. She hasn’t been proven quilty but enough evidence existed for an arrest. The story is
here. I hope this doesn’t hurt the club with future functions. While I am not a member of this club, I was an officer of another. Any officer, president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, historian, or executive board member, has a responsibility to the members to be above this kind of activity. If she really did write club checks to herself she should be prosecuted. Although nowhere in the story is a dollar amount mentioned, I would guess it’s not chump change. All officers in clubs are volunteers with a thankless job. The money can be recouped with some extra effort, although this late in the year another show is out. To the members of this club, hang in there and we wish you the best.

Boyd who?

We managed 2 of the 3 car events over the weekend that I had posted earlier. The Maid-Rite cruise-in was a little short on cars but the ones that did show up were mostly old friends so it wasn’t so bad. The cruise-in at the Isle of Capri left some of us shaking our heads. The band set up early and played before Boyd Coddington made his entrance. The whole hype of this was that Boyd would look over your car and offer his comments. Several of us noticed he did more talking into his cell phone than to car owners. No big deal we know he runs a large successful business in California, and no, I didn’t enter the cruise but sat with friends. Seems to me if you are the headliner of an event you could shut off your cell phone for half an hour. Even his actions couldn’t spoil a perfect day, and the tri-motor Ford flying overhead seemed just right. I hope the Camaro Club makes this an annual event.

City Council woes

An article in today’s QC Times states that 67% of people polled by Davenport One are dissatified with the current City Council. For the article go to the story.

According to this article I wasn’t too far off on some of my statements. Dan Huber and members of the council are quoted when asked why this happened. I don’t think any of them hit the nail on the head. While the skybridge, Davenport One, and other things are mentioned, I think it boils down to something simpler. If you behave like a leader, people will follow. If you show respect, you will get respect.

weekend car stuff

This weekend if the weather holds out, has a few local events going on. At Maid-Rite in Bettendorf starting at 6 p.m., the Quad Cities Cruisers are hosting a cruise-in. Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the west parking lot of the Isle of Capri Casino the Camaro Club is hosting a cruise-in that features Boyd Coddington ending with someone winning a set of his wheels. Also this weekend at Blackhawk College in Rock Island is their annual car show. I’m not sure of the hours, but I believe it’s 8a.m. to 4 p.m. So it looks like a busy weekend again.

Walmart and the gay market

I found an interesting story about Walmart. This company always seems to be making somebody mad so I found it interesting that this story was about Walmart joining a gay/lesbian group. For the story go to the story.
If this is a marketing ploy, I don’t believe it’s been tried before. It brings to mind some questions that will probably never be answered but I think it’s more to bring another untapped segment of the purchasing public into it’s stores.

Beating a dead priest

The story about the guy who sued the Catholic Diocese leaves alot of unanswered questions. Why wait 40 plus years to file? Why sue a dead priest? If he would have settled for a penny why would he take 1.5 million? Is he going to set up a non-profit to combat this problem in the church? Will he give the money to existing organizations to continue the fight?

I went to Sacred Heart around the same time as this guy, I was an alterboy and knew both Monsignor Feeney and Father Mann. I can’t say this did or didn’t happen, but to wait until the priest has been dead for 20 years to make such claims smells as bad as the river on a hot day. Time will tell if this guy does the right thing or not. Some people say the church shouldn’t be held accountable, why not? The church condoned such behavior by shuffling priests to different parishes when there was the least hint of trouble. Often the parish the priest were sent to had more children then the one they just fled.

The information about the church’s roll in all this has been out there for some time. I just cannot buy into the story that all that’s wanted is a statement of guilt from the diocese.

Car club gives money

This Saturday there’s a cruise-in at the Bettendorf Maid-Rite at 6 p.m. Nothing so special about that except at 7 p.m. the Quad Cities Cruisers car club is going to give checks to 5 different charities. While I am no longer a member, I salute the club for their efforts. One thing about car people is that if there’s an event for a charity they show up and are willing to donate. I wish all the clubs were like minded. To read the QC Times story go to the story.

merger

Are Ford and GM going to merge? If they do merge what they call themselves? Fordolet? Pontiord? Chevercury? How did the auto industry in America come to such dire straits? A lot of the blame falls on retirees and insurance cost coupled with more people on pensions than on salary. To read the whole story go MSN.