39
By Mitch Berg
By way of reading Emily’s birthday post at TXP, I noted that Saturday was the 39th anniversary of an obscure death that I remember almost as clearly as that of Martin Luther King, two days earlier…:
Motor racing world champion Jim Clark was killed in a car crash during a race.
Jimmy Clark was a “champion” in the same sense that Tiger Woods is a “Good Golfer”.
Perhaps the greatest Formula 1 driver ever, he passed the unbreakable records of Fangio and Nuvolare in only eight years of professional racing. Ayrton Senna and Jackie Stewart both passed his win record – but both of them raced longer careers and busier schedules.
A natural talent, Clark’s record in F1 may be equalled, but there’s never be another.
And there’ll never be a car as cool as the 1.5l 1965 Lotus F1…
April 9th, 2007 at 6:22 am
So Mitch, zat the most important anniversary you can come up with for today?
The car crash parallel is almost too easy.
April 9th, 2007 at 6:55 am
A few days off, Clown!
Although it coincided nicely with Ambassador Pelosi’s little meltdown.
The day is still young.
April 9th, 2007 at 8:30 am
That has got to be the worst painting I have ever seen. Seriously. The proportions are wrong, the perspective is wrong, there is no impression of speed. Has Lileks seen it yet?
April 9th, 2007 at 10:38 am
There’s also way too much detail in the background. I don’t care how good anyone’s eyesight is; no one should be able to count heads at the other end of a Formula One track.
April 9th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Terry, if this is truly the worst painting you have ever seen, you haven’t seen anything yet. I’ve seen classical-style crap selling for five large that makes this Louvre-worthy.
April 9th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Maybe it’s one of those ironic paintings.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
It must be one of those ironic paintings. Anyone could easily walk up and check the tread depth on those tires.