Telstar Logistics

Boeing KC-135: The Ultimate Caffeine Delivery Machine

What's not to love about this fanciful mix involving a BMW 5-Series, a Boeing KC-135 aerial refueler, and an empty cup of coffee?

Hat Tip: Flightblog

Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow Rides Public Bus to Work

Flickr user islaylike snapped this photo of pirate Jack Sparrow riding the 27 Bryant bus in San Francisco. Not only does Capt. Sparrow ride the bus, but notice that he also needs a transfer! No doubt to take a vintage F Market streetcar to meet his ship on the waterfront.

UPDATE: 16 May, 2011

Our friends at Muni Diaries got the scoop on the gentleman in the photo, as explained by the photographer. Turns out, he's Swiss:

This is a cellphone picture I took on Wednesday of my new friend, Sebastian Michellod, who stayed with me this week via couchsurfing.org. He is originally from Switzerland, but has been living in Central and South America for the past four years, traveling, making videos and documentaries. More recently, he has been dressing as Jack Sparrow, working his way north to try and meet Johnny Depp (who has been “impersonating him”). He just left for LA to catch the Los Angeles premiere of Pirates 4, and will also be in Las Vegas for another event. He is an amazingly kind and talented person, and I recommend that anyone meet him if provided the opportunity.

PHOTO: isaylike via SFist

An Illustrated History of the Batmobile's Evolution

Via Roger Ebert comes this nifty illustrated history of the Batmobile, tracing its evolution over the years into the grotesque vehicle that we see today. The image above above is just a tiny sliver of a much larger whole, so click through to view the whole thing.

An Encounter with Kerouac and a Bevvy of Classic Cars

While shuttling our Junior Executive to preschool today, Telstar Logistics encountered a motion picture shoot taking place in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood. Turns out, I'd stumbled onto the set of "On the Road," a new motion picture adaptation of the classic novel by Jack Kerouac.

Kirsten Dunst is in the film, and she may have been hanging out nearby, but we wouldn't have noticed -- we were too transfixed by the visual time-warp, thanks to the fantastic inventory of period-perfect cars on hand to create a scene set in 1949.

Says the San Francisco Examiner:

The production is shooting this week at 23rd and Carolina streets, the Bay Bridge, and Filbert and Leavenworth streets. Filming wraps up Friday.

Even though Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” is rich with San Francisco scenes, most of the film was actually shot in Canada, where many productions opt to film to the detriment of San Francisco’s film industry. In recent years, The City has attempted to try and revive the industry with incentives.

But just the few days of shooting is seen as a positive. And a driving-away scene being shot this week in San Francisco is said to likely end up as the final scene in the film, which is set for release in 2011.

Lots more photos, here:

Photos: Telstar Logistics

We Are Serious. And Don't Call Us Shirley! RIP, "Airplane" Star Leslie Nielsen

Sad news from the Hollywood Bureau: The fog is gettng thicker. Actor Leslie Nielsen, the star of send-up comedies like "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun," has died.

Entertainment Weekly recalls...

The master of parody boasted a talent for delivering the most ridiculous lines in the straightest way possible, cloaking outright absurdity in straight-faced obliviousness. Ironically enough, the foundation of that earnest gravitas was built early in his career as a dramatic actor: After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force and studying at New York City’s famed Actors Studio, the Saskatchewan-born Nielsen popped up on early ’50s TV. He received his first big film break playing sturdy Commander J.J. Adams in the 1956 sci-fi flick Forbidden Planet. Over the next few decades, he established himself as a reliable, handsome, rich-voiced character actor who graced myriad TV dramas (Peyton Place, Dr. Kildare) and movies (The Poseidon Adventure).

His career took a comical hard left turn when he was cast as Dr. Rumack in the 1980 big-screen parody film Airplane! (Let us honor his famous line, which stands as one of the best retorts in comedic cinema history: “Surely you can’t be serious!” “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”)

That last bit is presented here, as it oringinally appeared in "Airplane," as a tribute to the man himself. Thanks for the laughs:

 

Edison Film Captures 1899 Subway Ride Across the Brooklyn Bridge

Here's the Big Apple version of the now-famous 1906 San Francisco cable car ride up Market Street.

This 1899 Edison Manufacturing Company film shows the head-end view of a subway ride across the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

The B.M.T. train ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In 1898, the modern City of New York was formed with the consolidation of Brooklyn (until then an independent city), Manhattan and outlying areas. The opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 did for the city what railroad expansion and the Erie Canal did for the nation. The population was expanding due to immigration and commerce was booming. In less than five years the need for several more bridges would be apparent as Williamsburgh and the rest of Brooklyn also grew in population. On Manhattan "uptown" was moving quickly past 14th Street. Soon, people would be calling it "downtown." The subway system was already on its way.

Prediction: If someone simply adds a soundtrack by Air, this thing has what it takes to become a viral hit.

(Hat tip: Laughing Squid via Metafilter)

Backstage at a Modern Japanese Monster Movie

At a time when most filmmakers rely on computer-generated animation to create their special effects, it's good to know that some contemporary Japanese monster movie directors still prefer to do it the old skool way -- with men in goofy rubber suits smashing flimsy models of Tokyo on a giant soundstage. National Geographic shows us how its done:

Via BoingBoing

"60 Minutes" Takes a 1906 Cable Car Ride Down Market Street

The 1906 film of "A Trip Down Market Street" went viral on the YouTube recently after it was paired with a soundtrack by Air. But the story behind the original footage -- which was filmed less than a week before the catastrophic Great Earthquake that destroyed all of downtown San Francisco -- is even more interesting.

CBS 60 Minutes sent correspondent Morley Safer to San Francisco to investigate the film, and tell the tale of the local rail historians and archivists who pieced together clues to bring the original film to life. Here's the segment (Tip: click the square icon in the footer to embggen):

Want your very own digitally restored copy of the complete Trip Down Market Street video? It's for sale, CHEEP!, from the good folks at Market Street Railway, the nonprofit organization that keeps San Francisco's vintage streetcar fleet running.

"No Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Parallel Park!"

It's really really hard to imagine 007 driving around in one of these. But the more well-heeled among us may have the opportunity, starting next year.

Aston Martin has confirmed plans to begin production of the Cygnet, an urban microcar which basically looks like a Smart that's been spending a lot of time at the gym. In truth, however, the Cygnet is built on the same platform as the Toyota iQ microcar, and this little secret has the unfortunate effect of making the entire effort seem slightly tawdry. No official word on pricing, but Q tells us a Cygnet may go for £30,000, or about US$48,000 -- the right price for any globetrotting superspy on a government salary.

But.... why? Here's an excerpt from Aston Martin's press release. Try reading with a British accent:

Cygnet expresses a simple but fundamental idea: in the modern city, scale equates to speed and freedom. At just three metres long, the Cygnet gives the driver a new dimension of freedom, able to slot into gaps in traffic, exploit the smallest parking spaces, consume the least fuel and emit the lowest emissions, all while delivering exceptional levels of quality and comfort.

"Cygnet is small but luxurious, an Aston Martin tailor fit for the city," says Marek Reichman, Aston Martin's Director of Design. With an almost unlimited palette of materials, colours and textures, each hand-finished Cygnet will be truly unique, a personalised space within the city. "Luxury is not constrained by scale."

Having a tough time with that accent, James? Here's the video: