The Mini began life in a fit of pique. Saying that, describing Leonard Lord’s creative spark with a French expression may be too ironic even for the British (who’ve been defending their island nation with arched eyebrows for centuries). Less obliquely, the head of the British Motor Corporation allegedly launched the automotive project with the words “God damn these bloody awful [German] Bubble Cars. We must drive them off the road by designing a proper miniature car.” In 1959, while the UK was still suffering from a gigantic post-WWII, post-Empire hangover, the ill-fated BMC launched the Mini. Long story short, Mini RIP 1970. Until the Germans (of all people) decided to resurrect the brand. BMW beget MINI.
Publishing a Blog Exposes You to a World of Criticism
On 3 February, I posted on The Truth About Cars a piece informing the site’s visitors that I wished to create a style guide for that site. I wanted to know what certain terms visitors thought we should use in the reviews of cars. For example, should the site always use “torques” when listing an engine’s torque rating (à la Jeremy Clarkson) or stick with the technically correct, but boring, pound-feet or lb/ft? I asked how we should denote horsepower: capital or lowercase “HP”; should we use bhp; etc. I asked if—for the benefit of the site’s many foreign visitors—we should include metric equivalents. I had no idea the shitstorm this would create.
Negative Hallucinations
Once upon a time, I spent ten years as a hypnotist. I offered the standard watch swinging services: weight loss, smoking cessation, confidence, phobias, etc. Unlike my colleagues, I had no interest in talking about my client’s mother. Sit down, shut up, I hypnotize you, you achieve your goal or you don’t. For those who didn’t, I never deployed the industry standard accountability chaff: “I’m a great hypnotist but you’re a lousy subject.” I based my work on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. I’d hypnotize a client, and then work my way through the Scale’s twelve graduated tests—until the client either “failed” a test or achieved the weird ass dozen. It was no-fault hypnosis; given my abilities and yours, this is where you fall on the scale and here’s what I can do for you. All major credit cards accepted.