AUGUST 25, 2021
Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 02:27PM 
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby, it just happens every day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm...
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah!
Hmm, hmm, hmm...
- "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones
With deep sadness: Charlie Watts (1941 - 2021)
GMC unveiled its Canyon AT4 OVRLANDX concept truck at Overland Expo Mountain West 2021. The Canyon AT4 OVRLANDX concept truck was designed for overlanding enthusiasts, with capability features that include: Factory-lifted, wide off-road chassis with enhanced underbody coverage; Off-road rocker panel protectors; Cast-iron control arms; Heavy-duty front bumper with winch; Integrated front recovery points; Front and rear electronic locking differentials; Wheel flares with integrated task lamps; Multimatic DSSVTM dampers; Spare tire swivel mount so a spare tire can be kept on the back of the truck and swivel out of the way of the tailgate when bed access is needed; and Guy lines for protecting the windshield from low-hanging branches. Power is provided by GMC’s 3.6L V-6 mated with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The concept truck has a 27.7-degree approach angle and a ground clearance of 10.0 inches, boosted by 33-inch BFGoodrich KM3 Mud-Terrain tires on 17-inch AEV Crestone wheels. The vehicle could engage in water fording up to 32.1 inches, and its custom-tailored snorkel could allow for filtered and cooler air intake. Additional features include: AEV rear off-road bumper; Stainless steel truck bed cap; Roof-mounted tent; 270-degree awning; Jerry cans for gasoline and water; Traction boards; Off-road jack and mount; Cooler and kitchenette; Truck bed storage with drawer system; and a Solar panel.
Nissan has revealed its all-new 2023 Z sports car. "When we introduced the Z in 1969, the Z was a revolution. Since then, for more than 50 years, Nissan has brought style, speed, reliability and so much more to millions of enthusiasts around the world,” said Ashwani Gupta, representative executive officer and chief operating officer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. While the six previous generations of Nissan’s iconic sports car all offered numeric designations, the long-awaited redesign will be known in the United States simply by just one letter – Z. The 2023 Z "offers a sleek, attractive exterior with a silhouette that shows respect for the original model – with a long hood and low rear stance," according to Nissan PR minions. Inside, the driver-centric cockpit includes a 12.3-inch customizable display, available leather-appointed sports seats and 8-speaker Bose® audio system. All 2023 Nissan Z models are equipped with a 400HP 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo engine and choice of 6-speed manual transmission with a EXEDY® high-performance clutch, or a new 9-speed automatic transmission with aluminum paddle shifters. The 2023 Z is offered in Sport and Performance grade levels and a special "Proto Spec” edition, which is limited to 240 units. For more information, you can go to usa.nissannews.com. Editor-in-Chief's Note: I haven't given a Nissan "Z" car a second thought in years. Why? Because Nissan designers lost their way with the car a long time ago, and it turned into a Gorp Show that just keep getting worse with each iteration. This new "Z" displays a modicum of restraint and a purity of form that has been lacking for decades, and it is much more pleasing to the eye. How it drives and performs remains to be seen, but it will be refreshing not to wince every time I see one. -PMD
AE Song of the Week:
Mmm num ba de
Dum bum ba be
Doo buh dum ba beh beh
Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no man ask for
Under pressure that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da, that's okay
It's the terror of knowing what the world is about
Watching some good friends screaming, "Let me out"
Pray tomorrow gets me higher
Pressure on people, people on streets
Day day de mm hm
Da da da ba ba
Okay
Chipping around, kick my brains around the floor
These are the days it never rains but it pours
Ee do ba be
Ee da ba ba ba
Um bo bo
Be lap
People on streets
Ee da de da de
People on streets
Ee da de da de da de da
It's the terror of knowing what the world is about
Watching some good friends screaming, "Let me out"
Pray tomorrow gets me higher, high
Pressure on people, people on streets
Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love but it's so slashed and torn
Why, why, why?
Love, love, love, love, love
Insanity laughs under pressure we're breaking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love, give love, give love, give love
Give love, give love, give love, give love, give love?
'Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure
"Under Pressure" by Queen featuring David Bowie, from the album "Hot Space" (1981).* Written by David Bowie, John Richard Deacon, Brian Harold May and Roger Meddows Taylor. Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, TINTORETTO MUSIC. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch Queen with David Bowie and Annie Lennox perform it live here.
*A collaboration with David Bowie, this is credited to "Queen with David Bowie" because the B-side of the single is Queen's "Soul Brother." It was recorded at an impromptu session in Montreaux, Switzerland in the summer of 1981. According to Queen bass player John Deacon, Freddie Mercury did most of the songwriting on this, although everyone contributed. The lyrics deal with how pressure can destroy lives, but love can be the answer. The lyrics are characteristic of Mercury's songwriting. Deacon however did come up with the iconic two-note bass riff, although it came very close to vanishing: According to Roger Taylor in the Days of our Lives documentary, Deacon came up with the riff, then the band went for pizza before coming back to continue rehearsals. Upon returning, Deacon had completely forgotten his idea! Luckily, Taylor eventually remembered how the bass line went. Brian May recalled to Mojo magazine October 2008. "It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it's a great song but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that." May adds to this feeling of the sessions being fairly strained in a further interview for the Days of our Lives documentary, where he notes that "suddenly you've got this other person inputting, inputting, inputting... he (David) had a vision in his head, and it's quite a difficult process and someone has to back off... and eventually I did back off, which is unusual for me." In the US, this was on Queen's Greatest Hits album and released as a single at the same time. It was not released on a UK album until six months later, when it was included on Hot Space. This was only the second UK #1 hit for Queen. They hit #2 with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Are The Champions," "Somebody To Love," and "Killer Queen," but their only previous #1 in England was "Bohemian Rhapsody." David Bowie performed this with Annie Lennox at the 1992 "Concert For Life" in Wembley Stadium, London. The show was a tribute to Freddie Mercury, with proceeds going to AIDS causes. Vanilla Ice sampled this on "Ice Ice Baby," which was a huge hit in 1990. Details are fudgey, but it appears that the sample was never cleared and a settlement was reached with Queen and Bowie long after Vanilla's song hit it big. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)