#but also i am the king of hard and fast aka i get like 24 terrible hours and then recovery is super quick. i'll be back to 100% health in

[starlettescarlet]

the taylor swift-lana del rey cinematic universe

alright girls and gays, i’ve done my share of investigating and i am finally ready to unfold this. the theory is that taylor and lana speak to each other through their music, and the hints are so subtle that so many of us have looked past through it for years. finally, i’m here to shed light into it. i’m not insisting that it’s %100 real but i’ll let the facts speak and you decide, yeah.

i. ok, we start with taylor’s 2014 track wildest dreams. this song-music video was clearly a homage to lana. it LITERALLY is like it was written by lana. it’s like taylor sat down and went, “i’m gonna create something that is so lana”. we can all agree that lana is the one who invented this retro style mv’s thing into the pop music industry, so yeah.

ii. fast forward to 2017, to lana’s lust for life & taylor’s reputation

 “i don’t want you like a best friend / only bought this dress so you could take it off” - dress, taylor swift

“take off, take off, take of all your clothes” - lust for life, lana del rey

“it took thirteen beaches to find one empty, finally it’s mine” - thirteen beaches, lana del rey

this song literally talks about the same thing as delicate mv, being surrounded by crowds and cameras all the time and how they want to disappear and be invisible even for a brief period of time to be free as they want to be. ALSO, what is 13? yep, taylor’s lucky number.

 “god bless america and all the beautiful women in it” - lana del rey

 i mean, taylor is literally miss americana. ok.

“when the world was at war we just kept dancing” - lana del rey

“i had a bad feeling, but we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied” 

ok, next.

“come here dressed in black now, so so so it goes, scratches down your back now, so so so it goes” - so it goes, taylor swift

“i paint my nails black / i dye my hair a darker shade of brown / cause you like your women spanish, dark, strong and proud / i paint the sky black” - black beauty (uv), lana del rey

next.

“salute to me like i’m your american queen, and you move to me like i’m a motown beat / we rule the kingdom inside my room / cause all the boys and their expensive cars / their range rovers and their jaguars / never took me quite like you do” - king of my heart, taylor swift

“it never was about the money or the drugs / for you, there's only love / for you, there's only love / it never was about the party or the clubs / for you, there's only love” - religion (hm), lana del rey

that’s some strong ldr references in there, taylor. 

iii. okay, heading off to taylor’s lover era.

“american glory faded before me / now i’m feeling hopeless ripped up my prom dress” - maathp, taylor swift

“if this is it i’m signing off / hawaii just missed a fireball / la’s in flames, it’s getting hot / kanye west is blonde and gone” - the greatest, lana del rey

 they are both talking about how f-ed up american culture became. good for them.

 “if i was a man, i’d be the man” - the man, taylor swift

 “i’m your man” - mariners apartment complex, lana del rey

 UGH! let’s also mention mariner apartment complex ends with “are you ready for it? are you ready for it? are you ready for it?”

 “but we might just get away with it / the religion’s in your lips / even if it’s a false god” - false god, taylor swift

 “there’s nothing wrong with contemplating god” - cocc, lana del rey

 ladies, it’s getting HOT in here.

iv. folklore time!

 “i’ve been having a hard time adjusting / i had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting / but i just wanted you to know that this is me trying” - this is me trying, taylor swift

 “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have- but i have it” - lana del rey.

 they’re saying the SAME thing.

 “everytime you call me crazy / i get more crazy, what about that? / everytime you say i seem angry / i get more angry / and there’s nothing like a man woman / what a shame she went mad / and there’s nothing like a mad woman / you made her like that” - mad woman, taylor swift

 ok this song is about taylor herself but it also fits very well into lana, how she is being portrayed as a t*ump supporter, how she “went mad and became a karen” when she stated for like hundred times she’s anti-t*ump and all that jazz. andhow the public tries to make her seem more mad when she tries to explain herself.

 “nobody’s son, nobody’s daughter” - cocc, lana del rey

 “someone’s daughter, someone’s mother” - epiphany, taylor swift

 ok so this “betty and james” thing in betty. guess whose name is elizabeth? guess what is short for elizabeth? and guess who was named after james taylor? HMMM.......

 “i only mention it cause i’m ready to leave LA, and i want you to come” - lmlylaw, lana del rey 

 so lana is leaving LA. guess where’s she going? FOLKLORELAND?

 “i’m setting off, but not without my muse / no, not without you” - the lakes, taylor swift

 taylor you’re being really obvious here...

 “you were driving the getaway car / we were flying but we’d never get far” - getaway car, taylor swift

 “drag racing my little red sports car / i’m on the run with you my sweet love” - cocc, lana del rey

 fast forward to taylor’s cowboy like me, it can literally be the theme song of lana’s cocc album cover photo. SAME THEME. watch the cocc mv and tell me you don’t see the resemblance. they’re both miss americana yeehaw girls. they’re both cowboys.

 “and i’m sitting on a bench on coney island wondering where did my baby go?” - coney island, taylor swift

 are we gonna ignore the fact that lana is coney island queen? references to her aka lizzy grant era.

 “i want you on me like when we were kids under chemtrails on country club” - cocc, lana del rey

 “i can see us twisted in bed sheets / august sipped away like bottle of wine” - august, taylor

 same gay ass childhood love thing.

 happiness by taylor has so many the great gatsby references. who made a soundtrack for gatsby? lana! “will you still love me when i’m no longer young and beautiful / i know you will...”

 also let’s mark how ‘tis the damn season has the same depressed holiday season vibes as lana’s how to disappear.

 the last great american dynasty? taylor really saw the next best american record and said lemme change it a bit.

 “you’re born in december, i’m born in june” - cocc, lana del rey

 ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? there is no other explanation behind this.

+ BONUS 

 “i’ve been tearing around in my fucking night gown / 24/7, sylvia plath” - hope, lana del rey

 “what a shame she’s fucked in the head” - champagne problems, taylor swift

- end of the thread! i’m sure there are ones i’ve missed so feel free to add them. don’t forget to stream chemtrails over the country club and folklore/evermore.

#taylor swift #lana del rey #this is a joke but also not #reputation #norman fucking rockwell #lust for life #folklore #evermore #chemtrails over the country club #ts #ldr #swifties #theory #thread #lana del rey taylor swift

[imz1-z1]

MADMEN

First group under MM Entertainment

They are reason MM entertainment changed to music label from the dance studio

Debuted in 2017 with song called Bir Qadam, debut MV was for Beri Jaqynda

Their fandom name is MADwave 

Besides their group activities all members do other jobs such as being dance teachers, because they pay for their MV’s themselves!

Watch their documentary with English subs here

Aron

Roman Park  Born in 16.09.1997, Almaty Half Korean Family: mother, sister (his sister have twins)

He is Mad Men’s leader, rapper and dancer. He makes some of their choreos too

Aron is a huge Blackpink fan and his bias is Jennie. He also like BTS, Bigbang

Have 12 tattoos, some of them are same with Khvan Ruslan

Aron said he won’t take anymore tattoos

Eclipse tattoo on his clavicle is unfinished one

His first tattoo was “Be yourself” which he got when he was 17 and it’s most meaningful to him

His favorite tattoo is girl in the arm

Aron had piercing on his lips

Can play piano and dombra, went to dombra classes because of girl

Have trypophobia and claustrophobia

Aron have a cat which name is Ikki and dogs (Richard and Hika)

He wants to have two kids

Likes manga

Aron is interested anything that develops you spiritually and physically

Likes sleeping, sleeping and sleeping

People call him sleepyhead

Loves pizza

Coffee lover

“For eating there is a separate place in my heart.”

Ideal girl (2017): No one knows what kind of person we’re going to love, maybe they're gonna be the complete opposite of the ideal. That’s why I don’t have an ideal type. But there are qualities that I like. Those who have excellent taste in clothes, can cook well, with restraint and kindness.

In 2018 answered to same question again saying: I look at the soul not the looks

Joined to Madmen because of Tim

His closest friends are Tim, Khay and Khvan Ruslan

Aron’s favorite color was long time purple but then he changed it because too many liked that color

“I’m not an expert at love, so I’ll say one thing, happiness is worth fighting for.”

Aron never have regretted anything in his past because for him it makes him the one who he is today and that’s why he doesn’t even want to fix anything from this past

“You shouldn’t regret something that has happened.”

Have said that what inspires him is past, this moment and future

“I want to stay true to myself, stay the way I was born, the way my mother raised me.”

He likes that things are in order

People think Aron is very responsible leader and he takes care of people really well

Bad habit: licks his lips too often

He isn’t punctual

If he would have superpower he would like to heal people

For him ideal day would be spend whole 24 hour in one day with his mom (2019)

He doesn’t really watch movies, but during quarantine he did watch some

After graduating from school he didn’t continue to uni

Secret talent: he learns choreos very easily

He did describe himself in three words: stubborn, not punctual and hot-tempered (2019)

Aron doesn’t like people who smiles at you but talks bad behind your back

When he was 16 he did run away from police (NTK interview 2020)

Have drank so much that he couldn’t remember a thing in next day (NTK interview 2020)

Never kissed a girl in first date (NTK interview 2020)

“I always think of my loved ones.”

“I want to tell you so that you always remain the same regarding the circumstances. Never listen people who surround you and go to your goal. Do what you like. Wear the clothes you like. Just stay independent.

Khay

Tin Khai Lun aka Khay Born in 11.08.1999, Almaty Korean

His position in group is lead vocalist and lead dancer

Scared easily

Khay had opportunity to live in South Korea but decided to debut with Madmen

His fave food is Tteokbokki and lagman

Loves spicy food

Studied in School of Fine Arts: art and technical design

Speaks Russian, English, some Kazakh

Started dancing in 2010

In 2012 started to listen Kpop because went to Korean Festival

His favorite singer is GD

Hobbies: drawing, playing basketball, dancing

Can play guitar and piano

Ideal girl (2017): Cheerful and well mannered. With smiling eyes. Girl should have a good appetite and a great sense of humor. Understanding and sharing my interests. I like the looks of the singers: IU and Jisoo.

Khay has been wearing glasses since 1st grade

He likes to solve Rubik’s cubes, his record is 49 seconds

People say it’s easy to get along with him

Mark

Alikhan Asen aka Mark Born 24.07.1999, Shymkent Kazakh

Group’s vocalist

Before Madmen he was in Sevenlight, after Sevenlight disbanded he did solo stuff

He is still close with some 7light members (Sai, Kael)

Have said that Kael is his best friend

Is closest one with Aron in Madmen

When he was in 7light he did cook for the members

Likes to play guitar, but can play dombra as well

Religious person

"Being good human as much as I can, don’t jump in front of anyone, not thinking misdeed about human beings, not making bad things."

Qualities which he likes in people: I like those who don’t be stilted and be real, honest, positive. People who are LOYAL to their own work, to the ones they walk with.

Qualities which he doesn't like in people: Telling many lies, being stilted, thinking of only themselves getting something illegally, jealousy, vaunt

He is scared of snakes and spiders

Ideal type (2021): I’m thinking, there are characters as many as the amount of people living. Every person is not the same, so I cannot say “yeah that’s my type”. I think the person you really love becomes the ideal for you even though they have minuses. There is no standard “ideal”, every person changes it according to their choices. Am I right?

Mark prefers to write Kazakh in Latin alphabets

Said that his bad habit is that he is so sensitive

Since 4th grade he have been doing music

Did learn to play guitar by himself because his mother wanted him to play dombra

Mark moved to Almaty to study

Moora

Alimurad Ibraimov  Born in 06.12.2000, Tashkent, Uzbekistan Kazakh Family: mother, three older sisters (Kamila, Akzhanat)

In Madmen his position is vocalist

He can play piano

Haven’t dated yet anyone

Moora’s first book which he did read was “The Little Prince”

He have played basketball 

Loves anime especially Naruto

Moora got his first tattoo in 2020

Shy but when he is comfortable with people he is loud

His favorite cartoon is Lion King

People say he is smart

Said that his bad habit is laziness

Perfect day: To be home with his relatives

Likes to play video games for example Tekken and Mortal Kombat

Before joining to Madmen he was in dance group called LevelUp

Have said that his closest friends are Aron and Rem, he even got necklace from them which he cherish a lot

Prefers black when wearing clothes

"This is my life, this is my world." - about his family

His favorite food if meat but he likes everything which have tomatoes in it

When he was asked to describe himself in 3 words he said: Lazy, gets angry easily but calm fast as well

"My mood gets up every time because of my mom"

Speaks Kazakh, Russian and English, prefers using Russian

Aron was Moora's first choreographer in MM

M

Born in 8.12.1999, Kyzylorda, Qarmaqshy region Real name: Ahmetqali Madiyar Mazityli Height: 178 cm

People call him Madi, he didn't want to have this as his stage name so people wouldn't confuse him to Madi Rymbaev

He likes to listen Bruno Mars, Maroon 5

Before he became MM trainee he was in Qpop group called RedBlaidd, they did one song and disbanded due different views

Madi’s cousins are Ace from Ninety One and Ash from NKI

He is choreographer under MM entertainment

Speaks Russian and Kazakh

In group he is vocalist

His favorite food is burgers

Likes to eat a lot

Before he joined to Madmen he was in Madness

One of his closest friend is Madness's Sula

He is extrovert

Likes watching anime, especially Naruto

FORMER MEMBERS

REM

Masakbay Rakhat aka Rem Born in 30.03.2000, Almaty Height: 173 cm Kazakh Junior Clan, Älimuly, Jolshara Family: Mother, father, brother (Nurken) and little sister (Dilnaz)

Studies at Almaty’s college named after Tchaikovsky (choir conductor)

He is Mad Men’s vocalist and makes music for their songs

Rem’s favorite color is black

His fave movies are Slipt and Shutter Island

Rem made his first money as singing in Tois

Watches anime and his favorite is Naruto

Rem have dated 8 girl’s

Talks most from Madmen

Loves meat dishes

Have cat named Umi

Did leave from Madmen in March 2021, is now at TikTok House Bip House

Ideal girl (2017): A girl with whom it’s convenient at any circumstances

Bad habit: he can sometimes just lives inside his head

Rem collects action figures

Have run away from police (NTK interview 2020)

Dated two girls at same time (NTK interview 2020)

Rem have kissed a girl on first date (NTK interview 2020)

Came to MM when he was 14

Young

Erasyl Abdraliev aka Young Born in 01.08.2002, Almaty Family: mother

Is Mad Men’s youngest member

Erasyl was part of Madness (is still close with them!!)

Likes K-Pop, manga and anime

Young can speak Kazakh, Russian and English

He likes to watch videos of space and stars

Is afraid of heights

Likes to stare stars

His closest friends are Sula, Renat and Aldiyar

Did leave from Madmen in March 2021, nowadays is dance teacher in LY entertainment

Young can play dombra

He loves to play video games

When he joined to Madmen he worked really hard for becoming better at dancing

Tim

Timur Kurmangaliev Born in 20.06.1997, Almaty Tatar-Russian Family: mother, father and sister

His favorite good is pilaf

He was Mad Men’s visual and vocalist

Scared easily

Tim can play guitar

He is Mad Men’s shortest member

Lived in Moscow for a while in 2019 is now back to Almaty

He left from Mad Men in 8th November 2018

After he left from Madmen he worked for a while in MM

Ideal girl (2017): Charismatic, economic, well mannered, kind and responsive

#info #Madmen

[alliebruns-blog]

The Namibia/Panama Crossings Part Two: The Desert, Day 1.

DAY 1: Namibgrens to the Erongo region - 28.5 miles  (AKA ‘The Naivety of the British Runner EXPOSED’) 

I love 5.30 am starts, which is lucky because that’s basically the deal for the next week. Yes reader, 5.30am is a time. A real time. That people get up. 

Kit on and bags packed, and it’s off for breakfast for musli and yoghurt and then straight into the car for me and Darren. Jim and Danni get on their bikes for the first leg of the bike ride. They are starting 100km behind us. We will drive 100km to the edge of the desert and start the run there. We won’t see Jim, Pete and Danni for 2 days now. It’s emotional, but we deal with it. If they want to cheat it’s up to them. They have to live with that decision. And boy, does Jim live with it…. (TBC)

After an hour in the car we get to the edge of the Namib-Naukluft Park and the giant NO ENTRY sign. There’s a gate, but one of the team has left the key to the padlock at the office 200km away in Walvis Bay. So we do what we always do, and knock the fence down. We put it up again. It’s all good. The government said we could do it. What are the laws on guns here again? 

Seems legit.....

Darren and I have had a brief discussion about running together. It’s hard when you don't know someone that well - or when you do, and know that they are faster than you (which is what I know about Darren). I say 10 min miles are my jam, which they are for these longer back to backs and Darren agrees he can deal with that. I am talking about 10 min miles in the UK on trails in about 12 degrees. Our 10 min mile plan lasts just that. About 10 mins to a mile. 

We start running on a gravel path - it’s pretty runable, soft in places, and it’s a cool morning - cloudy and not too hot - so we manage about 6 miles in about an hour - a pretty good pace. With one support vehicle in front of us and one behind, we have access to our kit and fresh water and food pretty much all the time. It’s great! I am still running with a small pack and a bladder - I am obsessed with running out of water. 

First part of the day looks do-able....

We trot on through the never ending gravel plains and then, suddenly from nowhere there is a big group of animals running as a pack. They look like ponies BUT THEY ARE ZEBRAS! Wondrous mountain zebras, stampeding along and crossing in front of us. A literal Zebra crossing. Amazing. There are some big cats in the area, so we keep and eye out to see if it’s a chase, but don’t spot anything. Seeing these animal up close like that, just doing what they do is astonishing and we don't take it for granted. 

Zebra Crossing!!!!!

Also out on the plains that morning were Oryx’s - great big deer type creature with huge spiked horns and long fluffy tails. They’re very shy and they can run FAST. We also see a couple of little sidewinder snakes and some fun new crickets we’d not seen before. Our “taking photos of everything” habit is slowing our pace, so we try to crack on. 

Snake holes.....

New Pal......

We keep running, with more walk breaks now. It’s getting hotter - it’s becoming obvious that we can’t keep up a flat 10 min mile pace for the whole day. The clouds clear and the sun comes out with a vengance. It’s 9am and boiling. 

Our first hill appeared in front of us, a long, slow rising dune made of red sand. There’s a burnt car - the remains of a poachers vehicle left in the sand; a reminder not to break the rules. An eerie sight in a beautiful landscape. At the top of the hill we get our first view of the red dunes. And what fun they were. Soft and fluffy - these are the small guys - we power up them and speed down them.

Views..... (get used to this....)

As we cross, we also get our first high view of the desert sprawling in front of us. It was magical and terrifying. At the top of the hill, under a tree lay the remains of a Springbok, bleached white by the sun. Possibly left in the tree by the triumphant cat that caught it, with the carcass dropping as various animals made the most of a good meal. It was a very real reminder of what happens when you are left alone out here. 

That’s what dehydration can do to ya.....

Danny and David realised the ‘road’ they had plotted was now no longer passable, as the dunes had moved and were too soft to drive on. This was highly amusing for myself and Darren, who got to watch them attempt to get the cars up the new mega deep, fresh dunes. Those guys are some of the best drivers I have ever seen. What they do with those cars is MENTAL and they never (well barely ever) get it wrong. The tracks from the support trucks lead the way for us to run - but running IN the tracks of the cars is difficult - they make the sand soft and moveable. The tracks serve only to show us the way-ish - we can run alongside them or cut across plains. As long as we have the trucks in sight it’s cool. And losing them actually freaks you out a bit. 

We decide to run off road and do an explore - trotting over dunes in the general direction that Danny and David pointed us in while they sorted truckgate. This meant negotiating spiky bushes, snake holes. lizard guys, big cat prints and dunes, not necessarily in that order, in rising heat. We kept on pushing and pace was good for the terrain. Darren though he saw some ostriches but it because clear these were actually a steel posts. Heat brain was setting in. 

Spot the car.....

Lunch was served at about 14 miles, in a small makeshift tent that Danny, David and Johnny had erected on the path for us - cold water down the back and on the head, bread, meat, cheese and GERKINS YES GERKINS were on the menu. I took a second to take in what was actually happening here. A picnic in hell or heaven? I dunno. It was one of the best lunch spots I’ve ever stopped at though…..

Lunch - doesn’t look that hot. Was fucking boiling. 

After the refuel, we set off again. It was getting really tough now, with heat peaking in the late 30’s between 1 and 3pm and zero wind. It was also getting sandier, which sounds stupid when you consider where we are but it WAS getting sandier! Elevation was also on the up. It’s easy to decide  try and give everything to the run in these conditions, but I was constantly reminding myself that we had another 3 days of this and we had to respect the distance. Oh yeah, then we had a good 250-300km to do in Panama. We ran and marched through another 15 miles of beautiful but essentially non-descript hill dunes. We ran past a small dune filled with big holes, and out popped a desert jackal (possibly one of the cutest things on earth) He should have been asleep really, and he couldn’t believe his bulgy eyes. I imagined him running back down into the maze of tunnels to tell the other jackals what he’d seen outside and them saying “go back to sleep Dave, you’re drunk”. 

Hello little pal! 

Eventually we saw the trucks had stopped at the top of a huge dune - we were 28 miles in to what was supposed to be a 30 mile day and we were all knackered. Doing that distance is one thing, doing it in sand and heat, without a rest day after 24 hours travel is another. We decided as a team to add on the extra couple of miles to tomorrow and try an get out heads down for the night. At the top of the dune, we downed tools and took in the the view of the valley below. Zebras and oryx’s were grazing as the sun set. It was Lion King beautiful.

I’ve camped in worse spots.....

Tent life.....

Our crew set up camp as we dealt with the important issue of re-hydration with a beer, a sit down and foot check. The make-do camp shower looked out across the plains. The toilet took in some of the most beautiful views on earth. We were so lucky to be there. 

That night as we settled down for a bolognese dinner, an huge owl flew over camp and drew our attention to something larger sloping down the hill. To the amazement of Danny (who has been working in the desert for over 25 years) it was the extraordinarily rare brown mountain hyena. He was trotting down the dune towards camp. We could just about make out his distinctive shape and he was obviously curious about the smells and sounds. He had probably never seen human beings before.  It was mesmerising. In his 25 years Danny has only ever seen 4-5 of these creatures and we get him on the first night. I swore it was because I was a dog person, and hyena guy could tell. 

After dinner we sit round camp and chat and then it’s bed. First day done, feet looking good and bellies full. Onwards to day 2. 

TBC

[cars4starters]

Thirty-five years after his death at Calistoga and 20 years after his induction into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame, we look back at the wild, colourful life and career of Gary Patterson . . . a genuine outlaw racer.

Gary Patterson – aka The Hostile Hippie, The Preacher, The Racing Reverend or the self-appointed Great GP – decided early in life he didn’t like authority.

After a spell in the services and a stint in gaol for belting a belligerent drunk in a bar, GP was racing often and successfully around California when he had his first confrontation with the then almighty United States Auto Club (USAC), with which he had been competing sporadically in a midget.

Said Patterson, “It’s not just USAC. I don’t like any clubs. They’re all loaded with rules, politics, binding schedules and too much crap. I don’t want to be regulated or forced to run a schedule. I’ll race where, when and for whom I please.”

Patterson was a pioneering renegade sprint car racer long before the term “Outlaw” became fashionable.

He could talk big, but mostly backed up his words with actions.

Patterson was a gent of two personalities. Away from the track he was quiet and quietly spoken, but when he dragged on the Nomex and Bell helmet, Dr Jekyll became Mr Hyde.

He was truly independent, with no wife, no sanctioning group, no manager, no promoter and no personal sponsors to corral him into compliance.

GP was a plug-in steerer of anything with wheels. Though one of the best-known sprint car racers ever, and winner of countless races, his CV was not spilling with blue-ribbon victories.

Too often he had to settle for second-rate equipment along a career path determined by wanderlust, curiosity and promoters’ start money.

He raced to put bread and whisky on the table, not for trophies or glory.

GP was about uncompromising, wheel-to-wheel racing, with a modest cheque as his reward.

Car owners knew when they put Patterson in their cars they would learn just how fast their midget or sprint car could go. On occasions, if a car owner or track promoter embellished the quality and competitiveness of the machinery, serving up a machine unworthy of his endeavours, GP might just turn hard right and put it into the wall — in silent yet clear protest.

Though based in Stockton, California, the racing nomad’s home was a cheap motel near whatever speedway he was racing at.

Patterson raced in Australian most summers through much of the 1970s, driving super modifieds, sprint cars, midgets and occasionally even a type of racecar he didn’t much care for — those with doors and fenders.

On his first tour of Australia in 1970-71, the long-haired mustachioed Patterson was tagged the Hostile Hippie by Liverpool Raceway promoter Mike Raymond.

A peace sign usually adorned his race suit and race cars.

“If a hippie means being a free spirit, then I’m a hippie because I sure am a free spirit.”

Though hardly a God fearin’ man, he also had a very tenuous connection to the Universal Life Church via a mail-order divinity degree from a friend.

The tough, nomadic Patterson, one of the original wild men, was an unforgettable character and racer. He was a great driving talent but more because of his intensely competitive nature, and often unpredictable antics.

He always produced reactions from the crowd. Always.

With Raymond and  flamboyant Queensland promoter Ron Wanless prodding him along, Patterson loved to fire up Australian crowds by calling the Aussie racers ‘amateurs’ and their racing cars ‘museum pieces’.

On a subsequent Australian and New Zealand tour in 1973-74, he hooked up with fellow American racer, the late Larry Rice.

The more conventional Rice was an ex-school teacher and US midget champ.

“The first time I saw Patterson in Australia he looked so mean I didn’t even have the nerve to talk to him,” Rice once reminisced.

The imaginative Raymond promoted the double act as The Preacher and The Teacher. The Odd Couple perhaps. But despite their very different personalities, the two became great mates.

In 1974-75, the two friends won every midget race they entered. According to Larry, “I was in a VW and he was in a Sesco, and he could run as fast in that Sesco as I could in the VW nearly everywhere we went. That’s when I first realised he was some kind of race driver.

“He was one hell of a race driver who never really got the recognition he deserved. I raced with him a long time and I’ve raced with a lot of people, but Patterson was as good as any driver I’ve raced with or against anywhere!”

More from Rice:  “I admired him because he could do everything that I really deep down wanted to do but didn’t have the nerve to. He just did and said what he wanted and if people accepted it that was okay and if they didn’t that was okay, too!”

Their friendship led to a legendary story which started when Rice pulled a sweet young Sydney gal with very old fashioned values. She claimed to be a virgin and wanted to save herself for her wedding night.

After some negotiation, Reverend Patterson solemnly “married” Rice and his new squeeze in a Sydney hotel room.

In Sydney Australia, his digs of choice was a room at the noisy 24-hours a day Texas Tavern in Kings Cross.

With a well-loved leather hat, earth shoes, jeans, T-shirt, Patterson was not a fashion icon. He had the word Outlaw tattooed over his ex- wife’s name on his arm.

Racing at California’s Ascot Park one night, the visiting racer kept his right rear tyre covered secretively with a tarp, before heading out to set third quickest time.

The local heroes, desperate to see what unfair advantage Patterson was running, tried knocking the cover off the tyre. When they finally succeeded in catching a glimpse, they discovered it was an old Firestone with a normal groove on one side, and on the other he’d carved the succinct message “Bite My Ass”.

Patterson raced on all sorts of ovals from tiny bullrings to one milers, dirt or asphalt. California’s half-mile Calistoga Speedway was one of his favourites (he held the track record for non-winged sprint cars there for decades).

“Racin’ is my whole life,” GP once said. “I’ve lived for racing and practically nothin’ else. When will I quit?  Hell, I don’t know. When I die.  When I can’t go fast. When I can’t get a ride. Who knows? I’m only a racer – what else could I be?”

He lost his life at the fierce Calistoga half mile in a shunt on Memorial Day, 1983.

Eye witnesses insist Patterson took his chance with slamming the wall rather than risk taking out another driver. He was 46.

Gary Patterson was inducted into the US National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1998.

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Gary Patterson: the ultimate racer #cars #cars4start #GaryPatterson #LarryRice #Retro #SprintcarHallofFame Thirty-five years after his death at Calistoga and 20 years after his induction into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame, we look back at the wild, colourful life and career of Gary Patterson .

#Calistoga #cars #cars4start #Gary Patterson #Larry Rice #Sprintcar Hall of Fame