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In March 2023, Stanford Universitylaunched an academic course titled "ITALIC 99: All Too Well (Ten Week Version)"; it is "an in-depth analysis" of the song, recognizing Swift's songwriting prowess and related literature.

 

I feel like we're about three years away from Taylor Swift becoming a real-life version of Wyld Stallyns, where her music becomes the foundation of our whole society.

 

I thought of a Don DeLillo novel.

 

Back in 1972, I was studying for my graduate school comprehensive exams. Suddenly, an idea for a fiction short story occurred to me, and I promptly started writing. The story, titled "A Nice Morning Drive," was set in the distant future (1982!) and involved Modern Safety Vehicles (MSV's) that could damage older, pre-safety-bumper cars without incurring any harm themselves. With a mixture of hope and presumption, I sent it off to Road & Track magazine--and they decided to publish it! (They even paid me $200, which was a lot of money back then, especially to a broke graduate student.) The article appeared in the November 1973 issue.

Neil Peart, who had joined Rush a couple of years earlier and who has been a sports car enthusiast all his life, read the story. Flash forward to 1980, and he decided to write a song for the band featuring a science fiction story line inspired by the R&T article. He substituted his all-time favorite car, a Ferrari 166MM, for the MGB from "A Nice Morning Drive" (although he had previously owned an MGB himself). He also portrayed a more extreme, futuristic setting involving a man-and-machine confrontation with The Man and a totalitarian world that had outlawed cars altogether. "Red Barchetta" first appeared on the Moving Pictures album and became one of Rush's top ten all-time songs (roughly speaking; when you've made 18 albums and a huge number of outstanding songs, picking the top ten would be an exercise in frustration and disagreement!).

At the time, Neil tried to get in touch with me, but R&T no longer had my correct address on hand. So he added a citation at the end of the song's lyrics in the liner notes.

Flash forward again, to 1996. We had just gotten Internet access in my office, and one of the guys entered my name into a search engine just for fun. It promptly took him to a Rush fan site, where there was an online copy of my story. We figured out the connection between "A Nice Morning Drive" and "Red Barchetta" and marveled at how many years we had failed to discover it. (I had heard the song on the radio, but I hadn't focused on its lyrics carefully enough to make the connection.)

Prior to this point, I was somewhat Parked in the Sixties, musically speaking, listening to such groups as the Jefferson Airplane, the Animals, the Zombies, Simon & Garfunkle, Country Joe and the Fish, and The Ventures (of course!). Naturally, after making the connection to "Red Barchetta," I immediately became a Rush fan and began catching up with the band's considerable catalog.

Well, now we have to flash forward again, this time to 2006. At the DC International Motorcycle Show, my friend Dave told me about a book by Neil Peart, titled Ghost Rider. In the book, Neil described how he tried to find himself again following the tragic deaths of, first, his college-age daughter and, subsequently, his wife. Emotionally, he was completely devastated and just empty--beyond any level that most of us can imagine. Eventually, all he could do was to keep moving, so he got on his R1100GS and started riding. Many months and well over 100,000 miles later, he began finding the will to return to life and to stop being the 'ghost rider.'

My friend Dave thought the book was outstanding and recommended it to me highly. Last Fall, I bought a copy, and I soon found myself in thorough agreement with Dave's assessment. It was a moving and eloquent story, and I couldn't put it down.

In December, I wrote a letter to Neil Peart saying how much I liked Ghost Rider and explaining that I was the Richard S. Foster from "A Nice Morning Drive" all those years ago. I wasn't especially optimistic that Neil would even get the letter, since he and the other band members receive thousands every year, but in early January I received a package containing a copy of his newest book, RoadShow. It had a very nice inscription on the title page, and there was also a long letter in the package.

In his letter, Neil remarked on the many connections we had between us, dating back roughly 35 years. I responded in a letter that, in addition to the story, song, and the fact that we both currently ride R1200GS's, another similarity is that I, too, am a member of a world-famous 'power trio,' The Surftones. (You say you haven't heard of this band? Neither had Neil...)

Thus began a long series of e-mails that eventually led to planning a GS ride together while Neil was on the East Coast for the 2007 "Snakes and Arrows" World Tour.... ​

"A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard S. Foster

 

The Volaré/Aspen were recalled numerous times; for the 1976 model year, there were at least eight serious recalls alone.[14]

They included:

• Potential failure of a component in the front suspension, which could cause the suspension to detach from the front subframe under hard braking;[15]
• Possibility that the secondary hood latch could not properly hold the hood closed;[16]
• Front brake lines, routed underneath the battery, that could corrode from spilled battery acid and lead to brake failure;[17]
• Seat belts that could unlatch during hard deceleration (such as an accident or hard braking), thereby preventing them from protecting the occupant;[18]
• Misrouted fuel vapor line that could rub against the alternator drive belt, possibly resulting in a fire;[19]
• Replacement of front fenders that corroded prematurely (sometimes in less than a year) because of an ill-advised cost-saving decision not to install front inner fender shields;[20]
• At least one recall to address chronic stalling and drivability problems.[21]

 

There's a reason that I have only owned one Chrysler product in fifty years of driving. That was a Jeep Cherokee that didn't improve my opinion much.

 

We had a Plymouth Volare wagon in the late 1970s. It was the first new car my parents ever bought, and I believe it had the hood latch problem.

They bought a Toyota Corolla in the early 1980s and have bought Toyotas ever since.

 

What is a Day that ends in "y" in Glasgow, Alex?

 

Unlike other animated birds, Orange Bird is incapable of singing or speaking, and instead communicates with orange-colored smoke clouds.

 

Defendant William Linkhaw, a Methodist, sang so poorly in church that a grand jury indicted him for disrupting the church's services. At trial, the evidence showed that Linkhaw's singing was so bad that the pastor once declined to sing a hymn at all. When a witness imitated Linkhaw's manner, the entire courtroom burst into laughter.

 

Every congregation seems have a man or woman like that. My wife and I call them “The Belter.”

Somehow they always sit right behind me.

 

In Latin America, Mexico has one of the most extensive street food cultures, with about 43% of the population believing that it is not harmful and about 58% eating on the street at least once a week.