if i look back, i am lost
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One Nice Bug Per Day
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I VOTED 3 TIMES, AND YOU LET ME
I VOTED 3 TIMES, AND YOU LET ME
CHICAGO POLITICS
by Duke Pierce Reade – February 27, 2019
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photo by Douglas Black
Once again it is the season to select a new Mayor in the Windy City and yesterday was an election day. After holding the office for two terms – some would say successful, others would argue disastrous – Rahm Emanuel is stepping aside from Chicago politics, perhaps temporarily, to spend time with family. Good…
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TAKE ME HOME, FALSTAFF
TAKE ME HOME, FALSTAFF
by Duke Pierce Reade February 7, 2019
Putting My Feet Up
Somewhere nearby, in the very near future.
It is a sunny Saturday morning and my buddy Jimmy da Nose calls. “How ‘bout we take in a ball game today? Starts at noon,” he says.
“Cool,” I say, “and maybe Killer will want to come with us.”
“Well…okay,” he says, then, “I suppose he’ll wanna bring Bobo and Sally Sue, too.”
“I’ll get Falstaff…
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Dutch Master Painters
April 2, 2018 by Douglas Black Apollo and Venus by Otto van Veen If your interest is 400 year old artwork that is yet undiscovered, maybe a Dutch Master is for you. One was recently found in an attic, the other has been hiding in plain sight for decades. According to an Associated Press report, a painting found in the dusty attic of Des Moines’ historic Hoyt Sherman Place has turned out to be…
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AI - Ultimate Arms Race For World Dominance
AI – Ultimate Arms Race For World Dominance
March 23, 2018 by Douglas Black
Make no mistake, there is a three-way arms race underway right now, and the stakes could not be any higher. The quest for smarter and faster computers at the leading edge is now a quest for an Artificial Intelligence controlled by one geopolitical faction for control of all things on Earth. Really.
The players are China, Russia and the United States.
My friend…
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Hypercar Will Drive Itself
Hypercar Will Drive Itself
March 8, 2018 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW The second offering from bespoke sportscar maker Rimac was unveiled in Geneva to gasps. The Rimab C_Two can drive itself if you are too frightened. And well you should be. This 1,914-hp electric hypercar, a gull wing with face recognition that locks out strangers, will do 0-60 mph in LESS THAN 2 SECONDS! Shut. Up. With a top speed of 258, I am not sure if taking…
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RARE PHOTO OF FIRST DODGE RAM
by Douglas Black, March 21, 2017
There is yet another player in the super electric car game, and this one really gets close to what we imagined the 21st Century would look like when we were kids. The Ren, a bubble-canopied should be the first production model with a turbine-back electric powertrain, is breaking the nearly new mold for electric supercars. Chinese manufacturer Techrules worked from the ground up and harnessed the design chops of famed designers Fabrizio and Giorgetto Giugiaro who took the world of aerospace as their inspiration.
See more at New Atlas
The cloth was pulled off at the recent Geneva Auto Show. Here are some pictures.
photo credit: C.C. Weiss / New Atlas
photo credit: C.C. Weiss / New Atlas
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Douglas Black is a Futurist, Historian, Writer and Photographer in Chicago.
REN SUPERLECTRIC A RUNAWAY HIT by Douglas Black, March 21, 2017 There is yet another player in the super electric car game, and this one really gets close to what we imagined the 21st Century would look like when we were kids.
The Laurel Wreath of Empire
The Laurel Wreath of Empire
I typically shy away from political statements or positions in this blog, with the exception of climate science. But today I feel compelled to speak my piece, and welcome shares or comments. Donald Trump is not that smart. I have known businessmen like him who were given far too much credit for cleverness and business savvy when their success was built upon a stratagem of unethical behavior,…
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Laurel Wreath of Empire
Laurel Wreath of Empire
Source: Laurel Wreath of Empire
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Laurel Wreath of Empire
Laurel Wreath of Empire
I typically shy away from political statements or positions in this blog, with the exception of climate science. But today I feel compelled to speak my piece, and welcome shares or comments.
Donald Trump is not that smart. I have known businessmen like him who were given far too much credit for cleverness and business savvy when their success was built upon a stratagem of unethical behavior,…
View On WordPress
Artificial intelligence won’t take over peer review anytime soon, but it may help combat fraud.
Douglas Black is a futurist, historian, writer and photographer in Chicago. He also writes historical fiction under the name Duke Pierce Reade, including the online serial anthology THE RED AND THE…
ChicagoAutoShow
February 10, 2017 by Douglas Black
The Supercar Gallery at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show showcases some of the most elegant and exclusive bespoke medallions in Chicago. My personal favorite? The Rolls-Royce Black Badge Wraith. Compromise is not in our vocabulary.
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Douglas Black is a futurist, historian, writer and photographer in Chicago. He also writes historical fiction under the name Duke Pierce Reade, including the online serial anthology THE RED AND THE GOLD available at Channillo.com
Supercar Gallery – CAS2017 February 10, 2017 by Douglas Black The Supercar Gallery at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show showcases some of the most elegant and exclusive bespoke medallions in Chicago.
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSLYRGDhsyw)
I Cannot Answer That - GM President
I Cannot Answer That – GM President
February 9, 2017 by Douglas Black
Today’s luncheon, part of the Chicago Auto Show Media Preview which I always find enjoyable, the speaker usually offers insight into a huge industry from someone near the top of the management mountain, and the food is much better than average. This year the featured keynote address was given by none other than the President of the General Motors Company, Dan…
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Alfa Romeo Fun Fact
Alfa Romeo Fun Fact
The 1935 German Grand Prix was won by Tazio Nuvolari for the Scudaria Ferrari Team – driving an Alfa Romeo!
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Opening breakfast of the two-day media preview started with bacon, which is always a good way to begin for me. The opening remarks by Jill Ciminillo, the new president of the Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA), lead me to believe I am not alone because she mentioned it twice.
The Head of Design-Global for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA), Ottawa born design genius Ralph Gilles, keynoted the breakfast meeting with a presentation that grabbed the attention of all in the room. Usually these talks are full of facts and figures suited more for the investor meetings and boardroom thrashings by stakeholders, and are often boringly self-serving dribble. Not this one.
Gilles talked Sci-Fi, AI, Sentience and Infinite Memory. He tipped his hat to his competitors, like BMW and Tesla, and he tossed out questions like, “Have any of you yet heard of BINA48? Hanson Robotics?” then left it there with a teaser slide. I will definitely look them up.
There were, of course, some facts and figures, and bragging on the new nameplates added to the FCA Group – Alfa Romeo and Maserati. But it wasn’t just info dump, Gilles is head of design for these guys, too, and he said stay tuned for cool stuff for “a whole new generation” from Maserati. I cannot wait.
JEEP is in an exciting space as well. One on one Gilles told me he was very excited about the “dual personality of the new Renegade and the expanding personality of the Grand Cherokee” models. One of the factoids thrown out was that overall JEEP sales have climbed from 497,000 units in 2008 to 1,200,000 in 2016.
Dodge Durango SRT, said Gilles, will be unveiled today. And speaking of Dodge, the passion of the MOPAR Car Clubs around the world are matched by the fervor of the Alfa Romeo fans, a factor in their acquisition of the nameplate.
FIAT is looking into bringing its larger platform to the US market as the FIAT Toro truck is already #1 in Latin America, according to Mr. Gilles.
And then about the future, the designer had an awesome concept vehicle to talk about (the vehicle itself is on a slow boat to China for the Beijing Auto Show). It began with a group of a couple dozen millennials picked by Gilles to answer, “What does your generation want?” Answers came as questions like, Why do we need a grille if it’s electric, Why can’t we move the wheels out to the max if there’s no engine compartment, and Why won’t my car talk to me nicely?
PORTAL is something unlike any concept I have ever seen, a ‘third room’ of your living space, and the promotional video said it all with images, no words. So I am just offering eye candy here.
PORTAL eye candy video on YouTube
Las Vegas – January 3, 2017 – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles unveiled the Chrysler Portal Concept at CES 2017 today. Designed to grow with millennials through their life stages, the Chrysler Portal Concept is electric powered, seats six and has a number of high-tech sensors that allows it to be classified as a semi-autonomous vehicle. For more information visit media.fcanorthamerica.com.
Finally, no surprise, the MAMA Family Vehicle of the Year went to the Chrysler Pacifica, and after accepting the award for FCA-NA, he gave me the best sound bite ever – “the Pacifica makes parenting easier, and life better.”
Founded in 1991, and now in its 26th year, the Midwest Automotive Media Association comprises 278 automotive journalists and public relations professionals from 25 states, D.C. and Canada. Jim Mataja, MAMA’s first president and automotive writer for the Chicago Tribune for over 45 years, recently passed away and was honored at the breakfast to a round of applause.
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Douglas Black is a futurist, historian, writer and photographer based in Chicago.
2017 Chicago Auto Show Opening breakfast of the two-day media preview started with bacon, which is always a good way to begin for me.