The Weirdest Thing: Truck Hits Street Light, and Then?...

This morning I was coming home from the tire shop and made a wrong turn getting to the freeway, which placed me in the part-of-town-you-dont-want-to-be-in part of town. Driving through a residential neighborhood, I witnessed a Tacoma make a way too fast right turn and *BAM!* Slams straight into the lightpole!

It freaked me about a bit- I've seen photos and movie scenes, but have never seen a head on collision into a lightpole happen in real life/real time. Radiator pops, steam comes out, oil drips, you know- just like in the movies. The passenger gets out holding his head and cursing in spanish. The driver gets out and he's yelling too- they both start yelling at each other, walking in front of and pointing to the front of the truck. The passenger calls the driver an "effing idiot" and says something about needing to learn how to drive (in spanish). The driver says "f**k you mother f**cker" in spanish and then get this- throws his open bottle of beer at the passenger! Did I mention its about 10:15 am?! :eek:


The two are yelling at each other in the middle of the street, meanwhile the truck continues to spew steam and oil. In the split second I turned away to look at the truck, the two dudes get in a brawl in the middle of the street! I'm sooo wishing I had my video camera, but am now parked in the middle of the street, keeping a safe distance away. But here's the weirdest part of all: Since this is that side of town, of course the obligatory 4-5 punks-hanging-out-on-the-corner were hanging out on the corner. The lightpole was about 6-8 feet from where they stood, and during the entire ordeal from the crash to the yelling, to the fighting, they didn't flinch a bit! They also didn't call 911, try to see if anyone was okay, or try to break up the fight. They didn't even laugh. They just stood there. And that freaked me out!

I was going to snap some pics with my iPhone, but the truth is, I really didn't want to be on that street any longer than I had to! (Some photo-journalist I'd make, eh?)

(not a photo of the actual incident)

Hello World, Again.

And we're back...

Okay all kidding aside, "Bushfinger MINI" went dark for awhile there, but not for a lack of content. In fact, there are much rumblings in the MINI world- enough to garner the attention of a couple thousand blogs and text-based media sites. For awhile there I tried to bring you the latest news and information about our beloved MINI brand, which basically made me one of the other thousands of sites re-purposing Press Releases over and over (ex: I read a review of the 2009 Clubman today- that's been out for how long?)

In its original state, "Bushfinger MINI" was simply intended to chronicle the antics and musings of a MINI Cooper owner (yes, yours truly). Over time I found I had a fascination with MINI Cooper casualties and began archiving stories of stolen and wrecked MINIs and the photos that go along with them. After awhile this got a bit too morbid, especially on the rare occasion someone dies in one of these incidents.

I moved toward media legitimacy by covering the hard stories that made the press. Then the price of fuel in the U.S. skyrocketed. Good gas mileage and "small cars" became hip; The MINI brand was making huge changes in their mantra and model line up. Put the two together and soon the MINI brand became a darling of the media. I began to notice that for every story that was about, for, or alluded to the MINI brand, it was covered by 2000 websites for weeks at a time (this might be the same for other brands/industries, but I don't don't know because I don't care). I made a conscious decision to not recover/repost that which is out there in droves, and/or covered by sites and writers much better and more prolific than I (cough*motoringfile*cough). Hence the darkness.

But, it's a new year and with that comes new goals and one of mine is to keep up the posts on Bushfinger MINI. That's right. You thought you got rid of me, didn't you? I'm going back to my roots and returning to the concept of writing about what I know- Me, my MINI, and related events. And the occasional news story I find particularly interesting.


Here's a recent photo of the MINI right after a 7-hour detailing session (which would have made a great blog entry had I thought of it at the time!)

Side-by-side Comparison: 2006 MINI, Honda, Scion, VW

Somehow I ended up on the Kelly Blue Book site again!! I don't know why- I'm not buying or selling anything... While there I ended up clicking the "compare" button. The results are as expected, MINI COOPERS KICK ASS in almost every area!

I'm not saying each of these cars are equally equipped, because frankly, I wouldn't know. But, with equal mileage:

cricka por photo mas grande

Used Car Blue Book, Private Party:

• '06 MINI COOPER S: $21,895.00 (mpg:25/32)
  
• '06 HONDA CIVIC DX: $13,510.00 (mpg:30/40)
  
• '06 SCION TC: $15,880.00 (mpg:22/29)
  
• '06 VW: GTI: $16,620.00 (mpg: 22/29)
  

Again, don't bash me for comparing cars that aren't in the same "league"- KBB.com seems to think they are!

Revisited... "Mutant steals Mini Cooper for Joy Ride"

Gotta love "The Paper"*...




*five points for who ever can reference that quote! :)

Courteous Interruptus?

I'm washing my car the other day as I do quite often- and the new maintenance guy walks over and tells me "joo cain wash jour car here man". (hey- that's how he said it!) I said okay and kept washing anyway. I saw him a couple days later and I took the initiative to let him know I wasn't "dissing" him the other day, but was in a hurry.

He said everything was cool but he had to say something because he's been telling everyone else too. I let him know it was cool on my end too, but that, although I know the complex was sold (again) and they changed out the management company (again) and fired the other maintenance guy for no reason (again), "i've lived here 10 years- and you are the first person to ever say anything [about me washing my car in the spot i wash my in]". He laughs.

I politely let him know that the next time he sees me washing my car in that same spot, it's not that i'm disrepecting him, i just don't care-- no wait- I *thought* that! What I actually said was something like "if anyone asks, I'll let them know you told me I couldn't wash my car here. You know- so you don't get in trouble".

Reason #89 why I seriously need to move from this place. :(

Speed Limit: 65mph MINIMUM (Picture Post)

I love it when you see something out of context.

"Runaway Cavalier" Update

THIS JUST IN!
Through an unsolicited update, I have received more info on the Runaway Cavalier! As it turns out, our frazzled gentleman was teaching his daughter to drive.

In a crowded, apartment complex, even. Niiiiiice!

Father: "This is the brake. It makes the car stop. This is the gas. It makes the car go."
Daughter: "Which one is this again?"

Tales of the Weird But True #2: The Runaway Cavalier

Last night as I was writing up my previous "Tales of the Weird But True" post, an equally odd event occurred. Namely...

I'm sitting @ the computer typing away about the strange event that had occurred just hours prior, when, from outside I hear a crashing sound. It sounded a lot like someone plowing into the wooden cabinetry that makes up the back wall of the car port. "How on earth could someone manage to do that?" I thought. I soon forgot about it so I could get my epic tome posted at a normal hour, since I had to get up at 5am the next day.

A few minutes later I hear the rumble and chain-drag of what sounded like a tow-truck. "Tow-truck?" I thought. Alas my curiousity had been piqued! I got up and peeked out my curtain like nosey Mrs. Kravitz. "WHAT THE?!" I thought! It wasn't a two truck at all!

It turns out- someone did manage to plow into the car port! What I saw from my awkward vantage point: A broken windshield, deployed front airbags, a flat tire, and a variety of leaking fluids. There was an older gentleman looking confused and holding his eye. And many many on-lookers. And no tow truck. I'm guessing that the dragging sound was from them trying to back the car out a bit to assess the damage.

So, how bizarre is that?! I have no idea how you manage to floor it into a stationary object while driving in straight line! I'm no expert but from the amount of damage, the driver had to be going at least 15-20 miles per hour directly into a solid, stationary object! Fortunately the whole thing occurred 2 carports away from mine and all the glass and liquids and onlookers- went the opposite way.

And no photos. :(

Tales of the Weird But True #1: The Case of the Missing Plates

Today I went to the gym. As I walked through the parking lot I noticed a guy sitting in the passenger seat of a Red Honda Civic, messing around with his T-Mobile Sidekick. I thought that was kind of interesting. I continued walking up toward the gym and in the next row, I saw another guy, crouched in front of a blue, Ford Mustang GT. I was on the opposite end of the car so I couldn't see what he was doing. Still, I thought to myself, "Hmmph. Someone's getting their plate jacked".

As I continued walking up to the gym facility I pondered if I should mention that to someone. My internal reply, "What? You see two black guys in a parking lot and automatically think 'they must be stealing something'? That's called "profiling"." I felt guilty that I automatically type-cast two black guys with white tank tops and black doo-rags as "suspicious", and proceeded with my workout.

Ninety minutes later I was leaving the gym. I walked past the same Blue Mustang GT. Guess what? NO PLATES!!! "Sunuva..." I screamed. "Damn!!... black!!...". Talk about a quandry! On the one-hand, you've got damn, thievin' ass bastards! And I knew it! On the other hand, man was I tired. I Alas, my previous shrug meant I was now morally obligated to report it.

I flag down the ever-present Parking Gestapo and tell him the short version. He calls it in to the real police. A few minutes later, not one, but two cruisers roll up. Meanwhile, everyone inside the gym (built with an entire wall of plate glass facing the parking lot, btw) is watching the drama unfold. I tell my story to Officer A. Officer B shouts from his cruiser, "where's the blue car?" I point, he goes. Officer A takes a statement, funky little spiral-bound notepad in hand (I didn't know anyone still uses those). Officer B finds the car and lights up the ol' red-and-blues. The crowd goes wild!

I continued to give Officer A as many details as I can:
What'd the car look like?
Red, older Honda Civic. Fading paint job.

Anything special about it? Wheels? Anything?
Not really.

What'd the first guy look like?
He was crouched down on the other side of the car so I don't know his exact height. But, kinda like me. Black, same height, same build.

What was he wearing?
White tank top on and a black doo-rag.

What's the second guy look like?
He was sitting inside the car so I don't know his exact height either, but... well... kinda like me. Same height, same build. Black guy.

What was he wearing?
A white tank top on and a black doo-rag.

Twins, huh?
Yeah basically.

(And then, the clincher...)

Why didn't you tell someone earlier?
Well, you know- you can't just assume that two black guys loitering in the parking lot are stealing stuff.

Officer A laughs and says, "yes, I certainly know what you mean".

So, like many police stories, it ended with an unknown victim, a clean getaway, and me- with a business card. In case I think of anything else.

Of course, it could have been one of those guys' car and they just went to, um.... wash the plates? Couldn't it?

Hitler's VW (video)

Disclaimers:
#1: I didn't find this- someone else did and sent it to me. But it's funny.
#2: It's not MINI related. But it's still funny!
#3: Did I mention it's funny?

So, what if someone stole Hitler's VW?

http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=784

Ferrari Something

Filed under "You Don't See This Everyday":

I noticed something interesting as I was heading southbound on the I-15 the other day. Even from a distance I knew I was about to see something you don't see everyday- I justs didn't know quite what that was going to be. As I got closer, I saw not one, but two Ferraris- on an auto-hauler (whatever those things are called). Since I'm not a "Ferrari guy", all I can tell you is that one was yellow, and the other was red. (Yeah, there was a Lexus on it too but who cares about a Lexus?!).

I grabbed a photo w/ my crappy kamera phone at approx. 70mph. Because I can. And I thought it was pretty.

S.O.T.*: A Novel Mutation in Human PAX9 Causes Molar Oligodontia

*So off-topic! (nothing to see here... testing the go ogle b o t... )

A Novel Mutation in Human PAX9 Causes Molar Oligodontia

Abstract
Experimental and animal studies, as well as genetic mutations in man, have indicated that the development of dentition is under the control of several genes. So far, mutations in MSX1 and PAX9 have been associated with dominantly inherited forms of human tooth agenesis that mainly involve posterior teeth. We identified a large kindred with several individuals affected with molar oligodontia that was transmitted as an isolated autosomal-dominant trait. Two-point linkage analysis using DNA from the family and polymorphic marker D14S288 in chromosome 14q12 produced a maximum lod score of 2.29 at {Theta} = 0.1. Direct sequencing of exons 2 to 4 of PAX9revealed a cytosine insertion mutation at nucleotide 793, leading to a premature termination of translation at aa 315. Our results support the conclusion that molar oligodontia is due to allelic heterogeneity in PAX9, and these data further corroborate the role of PAX9 as an important regulator of molar development.
http://jdr.iadrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/81/2/129


(yeah, that's abstract alright! )