Freepers in the Air: Niccolo on History Channel "Limos" program (Dec/4 9pm EST)

self ^ | 12-4-02 | Nicollo

[Chong]

Congratulations, Michael! This is a good day for the FReeper family. Been reading your book whenever time permits and, so far, my favorite is the Presidential Rides and your cover of clinton and his limo. Your contempt for him is showing, sir. Heh heh...

May I copy/type that little section here with your permission? I know a lot of freepers will enjoy it as much as I did?

"(Got my html up a bit, eh Chong? -- Thanks!)"

I love what you've done with your website. :-)

[nicollo]

Thanks, folks! Glenn, that Bob Greene essay you sent me to was fun. I used it in a chapter that gave a general, chronological reveiw of limousine use. Here are two paragraphs that quote him:

Coachbuilder John Bumgarner recalls that the first stretch limousines his company produced were called “hearses” by the locals. "The only time they’d ever seen a limousine was behind a hearse," he says. When Esquire magazine writer Bob Greene pulled up to his parents house in a hired limousine in 1981, the neighborhood buzzed. "Is everything all right at the Greene house?" one asked. "No. I know everything’s not all right at the Greene house. There’s a hearse in the driveway..."

... The stretch limousine became a fixture in the movies and a required prop for every script’s mafia Don, drug lord, or corporate bad guy character, as well as for a general symbol of wealth. The epoch was famously represented à la limousine by the television show "Dallas," the movie "Scarface," and, in real life, Donald Trump, who unto himself was a major consumer of and whose name was licensed for a line of stretch limousines. When the first stretch limousines hit the streets, crowds gathered and traffic halted. Limousines have always been the object of curiosity and stares, but the stretches caused a furor. Across the country, newspapers ran articles on these fascinating "stretched," "cutup," or "stretch out" cars. Bob Greene just had to find out for himself. He hired a limousine from Al Golub’s Chicago Limousine Service for four days to feel firsthand "the delirious ridiculousness of this excess."

I liked that line of his: a double "-ous" and a "-ness" topped off with an "excess" is awesome & most appropriate for the subject.

[nicollo]

Thanks, Chong! (And I'll take the compliment on the website -- you & Gary are too kind -- and good teachers). You are very welcome to reprint what you'd like from the President's chapter -- tell me the section & I'll dig it up from my files, if that's easier. So glad you're enjoying it.

Michael Kinsley wrote a column recently in which he concluded that writers write to have someone read, and that buyers buy books with no intention of reading them.

Well, Mr. Kinsley, go to hell. I loved every second of writing this book, all three years of it. If someone enjoys it, or better, learns from it, that's all the better. I had no particular affinity for the subject (limousines), but I always liked cars, and I thought this book could find a publisher. I treated it no differently than I would have any other topic, like... uh, a study of Taft's presidency. I gave it my all, and that's what matters more than anything, Kinsley notwithstanding.

Cynisim has its place. Kinsley don't know it.

I'm glad you've had fun with it, Chong. Thanks.

[Chong]

*Before and after this section, you address everybody else as President so and so for one thing. And I especially enjoyed your silent punches below.... I LOVE IT!*

Excepts from your book (and my 'commentaries' in red if I may) follows:

General Motors contributed the next line of presidential vehicles for Bill Clinton (1993-2001) (Geesh, Michael, it was an honest mistake not addressing him as president as you did all others, wasn't it?)

three 46-inch stretched limousines based on the 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and built by Cadillac in-house.

Although the figure is not published, each car must have cost considerably more than the 1989 Ford's $600,000. (HA! Way more than what it cost to build President Reagan's limos per car.)

The cars have oversized windows for viewing of the president and interior lights to illuminate the passengers at night. (To match his oversized ego and sickness and other purposes?)

[nicollo]

To Whom It May Concern:

I deny everything.

Sincerely,

Nicollo
Charter Member
Vast RightWing Conspiracy

[Chong]

By the way, send my love to that lady Chauffeur Karen!

"So deftly did Karen manage the car, the other chauffeurs were moved to applause." Page 48.

Good for her. :-)

[nicollo]

Chauffeuse Karen is awesome. I'll let her know you said that.

She drove while she was trying to get a job on Capitol Hill. After a year, she landed one on a sub-Committee for a very Republican western Senator. She's now over at DOE. She's one of the good ones, of whom we need more: dedicated to public service, honest, and a conservative.

[Chong]

LOL! L, O, (bad word involing the letter f) L!!! (I think I just double posted this. If I have, please forgive me. ((/sarcasm))

[nicollo]

I'm gonna head out to find someone who has cable. A buddy has beer waiting for me up in Maryland, but I don't feel like testing my little Ford Escort in the season's first snow storm... the tires are as bald as my head (which you will see on the History Channel tonight).

Thanks, Chong!

[Redcatcher]

Proud of you, bud. Keep up the good work!

[mountaineer]

An "it's on now" bump!

[Ligeia]

Uh, oh. The safety gestapo are going to get you for not wearing you seat belt.

[Ligeia]

Make that your seat belt. And you're doing fine. What a neat line of work. I thought it was the libs who were the Limousine Liberals.

[nicollo]

Just back from a cable-friendly friend's house... Did you like the show? I thought they did a good job of mixing in the history and technology. That was their goal, anyway. Hope you enjoyed it.

[nicollo]

Uh, oh. The safety gestapo are going to get you for not wearing you seat belt.

Lol! We were driving around in circles in Linden, New Jersey. No need for a seatbelt there... so long as John Gotti's on your side.

As for "limousine liberals," here it is defined from my book:

Limousine Liberal
The peculiar, dysfunctional mixture of money, socialism, and limousines. The Limousine Liberal loves the limousine but feels guilty about it (guilt being a happy condition).

[nicollo]

Thanks for tunin' in, Redcatcher.

[Fred Mertz]

I caught bits and pieces of the show while trying to watch "Taken" on Sci-Fi. Very good job!

[TwoStep]

**Bump** from the left coast.

[nicollo]

It was also up against The Sopranos. I'm told this is a tough spot... They get about a 1 share (one million viewers). That's not bad, and it since they can run it a few times it's not a bad buy for their advertisers.

I actually wanted to see the next piece on convertibles. Did anyone see it?

Thanks for checking in, Fred.

[nicollo]

**Bump** from the left coast.

Thanks!

9pm Pacific tonight. Let me know if you're watching.