Parrot Fashion

The BBC have reported today on a motorist being stopped by Police for driving with a parrot on his shoulder.

I don't suppose it was this chap?

Now, I don't actually see anything to  wrong with what this driver was doing - it's not like it was a cat or a Border Collie up there - but apparently "animals should be in suitable carriers or restraints"

Surely a shoulder is a suitable carrier for a parrot?

It is not reported as to what the parrot said.

Dead Dogging

An interesting story came to me from America via Australia today.

San Francisco and drive.com.au to be precise.

Now San Francisco is famous for The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and homosexuality - I have experienced at least two of these.

And it is also famous for Autonomous Robo-Taxis.  One of which ran over a dog.

Apparently, people get up to naughty things in these taxis.  There are rules that you can't smoke or drink alcohol in them but there isn't anything specific about sex acts.

Since one of the main robo-taxi companies is called "Cruise" I think they should have been specific.

Especially as they have cameras inside to make sure people aren't smoking or drinking alcohol.

Now, in Cornwall, rather than using AI to drive the cars, they are using it to spy on persons within the cars.

The BBC News story is here.  It'll be a good thing if it gets some dangerous driving habits discouraged.

So, at some point in the probably not too distant future, you could have AI watching people dogging while being driven about by AI and maybe running over an escaped canine - and no other humans would be any the wiser.

Would that negate the enjoyment for those doing the dogging?

Or just negate the dog?

A Lot More Rubbish

Last week I pointed out that I don't like Repair Lot.

This week I watched episode 3.

I think I've figured out a big reason why I don't like it and also why it shouldn't have an audience.

I know very little about vehicle mechanicals - but it feels that the audience they are aiming this show at knows completely bugger all about vehicle mechanicals.  The two mechanics sound like they both think that the other one is an idiot - it isn't quite "The black bit on the outside of the round thing is a tyre." - but it's not far off.

People who struggle with knowing what a tyre is won't be watching a show about cars.

Episode 3 should have appealed more though - they didn't have the stupid automobilia bit and the two cars they featured were relatively interesting.

One if them, a 1991 Mini, was owned by someone who "takes pictures of it in front of famous locations and then publishes them"

What!?

That must have a smaller audience than Repair Lot.

And has he never heard of Photoshop?  Here's something I cobbled together in 3 minutes using Paint...

...without the help of Dean Westmoreland - look him up if you want to get the relevance to this story.

The main issue with the Mini was that its suspension had been set up by a moron.

And, both the cars they worked on had no external work done on them so when they were unveiled and the owners had to say how wonderful they looked - THEY BOTH LOOKED EXACTLY THE SAME AS WHEN THEY WENT IN.

I've taken it off series-link.

This Needs Fixing

 I really like The Repair Shop.

So a car-based version should be ideal viewing for me.

Dominic Chinea could present it.  For those of you  who aren't familiar with him or the show, he's the bloke at the front with the beard who does the metalworky stuff for them.

And he also restores vehicles.

However, somebody else has had this idea - it must be someone not connected with The Repair Shop because it's called "Repair Lot" not "The Repair Lot"

And it doesn't work.

According to The Telegrah & Argus, a Bradford-centred publication?, the show is hosted by Abigayle Andre.  She's a Tik-Tok star apparently.

It isn't.

The actual host is somebody else I've also never heard of - Charlotte Vowden.

The format of this show is exactly the same as that of The Repair Shop in that:

• They get someone into their workshop with something of sentimental value that needs fixing.
• They have a chat about what needs fixing.
• They fix it.
• They get the owner back in and unveil it to them - literally.
• They show lots of short clips of the outside of the building and the local wildlife and rain.

A simple format that doesn't work with cars.  It is not possible to really engage or empathise with someone who has a Peugeot 306 with a leak, a semi-working door mirror and a dodgy rear light cluster.

The "experts" are fine.  You've got a bodywork specialist, an interiors specialist (with a scary sleeve tattoo thing going on) and two mechanics.

The first mechanic is called Hannah Gordon but she isn't the actress who I always think of in one of two ways:

• The one who isn't Susan Hampshire
• The one who killed Victor Meldrew

The other mechanic is Derek Drinkwater who, if my memory serves me correctly, considerably helped Elvis when they did the Bedford Dormobile on Wheeler Dealers.

But that isn't many experts so to try and match the Repair Shop who have experts in metalwork, horology, soft toys, ceramics, upholstery, jewellery, electronics, woodwork, leatherwork, cycles, musical instruments, millinery, bookbinding, paintings, cobbling and I'm sure I've missed out a few more, Repair Lot have an automotive memorabilia bit which is where the aforementioned Abigayle fits in to it - pointless.

So, do I like it?

Not a lot.

Conceptually Too Tall

Nik Berg is "a multiple award-winning branded and editorial content creative, specialising in lifestyle, automotive and technology for print and digital media."

He tells us this on his Linkedin page.

I've never had a LinkedIn page.

Which is probably why I've never progressed very far in business.

Or social media.

Anyway, he's written this article for Hagerty about the Pinifarina PURA concept car which I don't like.

Just to clarify, it's the car I don't like, not the article.

It looks like something heavy has been dropped on it - like a fully-loaded skip.

It looks like that because the bit between the waistline of the car and the roof of the car is very small - but you can still fit actual persons in it because IT'S ANOTHER BLOODY SUV!

Nik Berg, says that the PURA (why it has to be in capitals I don't know) designers looked back to the 1947 Cisitalia 202.

I think that their time machine may have been faulty:

Last Chance Saloon

If your Audi starts with a Q or your Volvo starts with an X then I'm not interested in it.

Today's Hagerty story has been on the cards for a while now - I reported precursors in March 2021 and again that September.

Volvo have stopped selling saloons and estates in the UK.

Maybe that will make my S60 a bit more valuable because if you want a new one now you will have to either...

a) Find a country they are still selling them to - or

b) Join the Police.

They will still sell them to law-enforcement officers - presumably because everyone knows that proper cars handle a damn sight better than bloody SUVs.

When mine was in for its first MOT, there was a Cheshire Police one in there:

Jolly nice.  I wonder if the mechanics get to test drive them.

I've just checked out the Volvo website and nobody's told them about not selling saloons and estates.

Yet - this could be your last chance to get one.

Grand Touring Blitz

That's what VW are calling their electric four-wheel-drives according to this Autocar article.

Here's the logo:

That squiggle is meant to be a letter I stylised to be a lightning bolt.

Their non-four-wheel-drive (but still a bit sporty) VWs are labelled as GTX.  Can't see anyconfusion there, can you?