Interesting reads
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Reading an old climbing book and one of the stories was about driving a "gas producer car" (powered by woodfuel) from Dunedin to Mt. Aspiring. I'd never heard of these, but my father knew all about them.
According to this there were more than a million of them running during WWII and mentions them being common in Australia and, presumably, NZ.
Wood Gas Vehicles: Firewood in the Fuel Tank
During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood.
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@chris-b said in Interesting reads:
Reading an old climbing book and one of the stories was about driving a "gas producer car" (powered by woodfuel) from Dunedin to Mt. Aspiring. I'd never heard of these, but my father knew all about them.
According to this there were more than a million of them running during WWII and mentions them being common in Australia and, presumably, NZ.
Wood Gas Vehicles: Firewood in the Fuel Tank
During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood.
Didn’t know we had them here, I’ve seen stories about them in Italy during world war 2.
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@jegga Less popular than in Oz, apparently.
Before the war, a government committee examining petrol substitutes had decided that producer gas was the most practical, and after the war's start worked on details of carbonised coal burning machines. A design was made available to manufacturers, who worked under government licence to required standards of reliability.72 As petrol rationing tightened after the fall of France, several makes of gas producers were advertised, informative articles appeared PAGE 753 in newspapers,73 and there were burners on the running boards or bracketed on to the backs of some cars. In September 1940 the Railways Department began installing on its buses 40 large producers made at the Woburn workshops.74 After Japan's entry, interest increased and by 26 January 1942 about 1800 were in use.75
The machines had problems. Gas gave less power than petrol, hence it was more effective in higher powered engines, in buses, service cars and trucks. Its use demanded more skill, both in driving and in engine care; starting could be tricky, as could intersections and traffic lights. One engineer said that this fuel put a driver back to about 1912 as far as the certainties were concerned but there were no insuperable difficulties for drivers with the necessary mechanical sense. Engines using gas required exacting care and the needed steel plate to make producers was not over-plentiful.76 They were viewed askance by some county and forestry officers because of the fire risk from clinkers and hot ashes deposited by the roadside.77 The rubber shortage of 1942, by making tyres and tubes the chief problem of motorists, lessened enthusiasm for gas producers.78 By the end of March 1943 the Transport Department recorded a total of 1773 cars and 507 trucks fitted with gas producers.79 In May 1943 three manufacturers advertised that producers could then be obtained without a permit, that the rationing of ‘char’ had been altered to allow private motorists up to five hundredweight a month, which was equivalent to about 45 gallons of petrol, and that there was plenty of ‘char’ all over the North Island and in most districts of the South Island.80 In New Zealand most producers used carbonised coal as fuel; some, as in Australia, used charcoal made from various timbers, but the Australian hardwoods made much better charcoal.81 In 1942 a Wellington man patented a new type of gas producer burning raw coal.
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-2Hom-c16.html
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I was highly amused by this passage in Keith Richards’ autobiography:
[...]
“[Y]ou’re actually seeing the world, and they’re paying you! But my God, there are some black holes.
“Dunedin, for instance, almost the southernmost city in the world, in New Zealand. It looked like Tombstone, and it felt like it. It still had hitching rails. It was a Sunday, a wet dark Sunday in Dunedin in 1965. I don’t think you could have found anything more depressing anywhere. The longest day of my life, it seemed to go on forever. We were usually pretty good at entertaining ourselves, but Dunedin made Aberdeen seem like Las Vegas. Very rarely did everybody get depressed at the same time, there was usually one to support the others. But in Dunedin everybody was totally depressed. No chance of any redemption or laughter. Even the drink didn’t get you pissed. On Sunday, there’d be little knocks on the door, “Er, church in ten minutes…” It was just one of those miserable gray days that took me back to my childhood, a day that will never end, the gloom, and not anything on the horizon. Boredom is an illness to me, and I don’t suffer from it, but that moment was the lowest ebb. “I think I’ll stand on my head, try and recycle the drugs.””
[...]
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@salacious-crumb I think Uncle Keith's chemically damaged memory may be confusing Dunedin with Invercargill.
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@crucial said in Interesting reads:
@salacious-crumb I think Uncle Keith's chemically damaged memory may be confusing Dunedin with Invercargill.
He says they were playing with Roy Orbision. What are the chances The Big O and the Stones played Invercargill? Probably about as good as playing Bluff. Frankly, I was surprised they even played Dunedin to tell you the truth, sure surprised me.
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By the way, the blurb on the back of the book, Keef sez, “Believe it or not I haven’t forgotten any of it.”
Excellent book too, well written, funny. Hard to believe the gratitude he extends toward people like Sonny Bono and Bobby Goldsboro for helping their careers during their first U.S. tour, Goldsboro even showing Keef some guitar tricks, which doubly surprised me.
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@salacious-crumb said in Interesting reads:
@crucial said in Interesting reads:
@salacious-crumb I think Uncle Keith's chemically damaged memory may be confusing Dunedin with Invercargill.
He says they were playing with Roy Orbision. What are the chances The Big O and the Stones played Invercargill? Probably about as good as playing Bluff. Frankly, I was surprised they even played Dunedin to tell you the truth, sure surprised me.
It's an old story and the origin of the 'arsehole of the world' comment.
The Stones were on tour with Orbison and in Invers they didn't get a great reception as the support act. Most Southland hicks were at the Civic to see Orbison.
Mayor Tim even declared that Keef got it wrong in his book and that Invers is indeed the arsehole of the world.BTW, they played in Invers on a Tuesday night and Dunedin the following day so the whole wet Sunday thing wasn't recalled correctly either.
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@salacious-crumb said in Interesting reads:
By the way, the blurb on the back of the book, Keef sez, “Believe it or not I haven’t forgotten any of it.”
Excellent book too, well written, funny. Hard to believe the gratitude he extends toward people like Sonny Bono and Bobby Goldsboro for helping their careers during their first U.S. tour, Goldsboro even showing Keef some guitar tricks, which doubly surprised me.
Have you watched the doco on Netflix? Some good stuff in there about his influences.
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@crucial said in Interesting reads:
It's an old story and the origin of the 'arsehole of the world' comment.
The Stones were on tour with Orbison and in Invers they didn't get a great reception as the support act. Most Southland hicks were at the Civic to see Orbison.
Mayor Tim even declared that Keef got it wrong in his book and that Invers is indeed the arsehole of the world.Hilarious. I guess Orbison really did drag his arse everywhere. This book must be several years old now, I paid no attention to it when it was published. Found it by accident, picked it up, about halfway through...
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How Subaru got a foothold in America , Malcolm Bricklin the first importer has his name attached to most of the worst cars ever made, early Subaru’s, Yugos, his shitty sports car etcetc
How Subaru Became the Unofficial Car of Vermont
... and New Hampshire, and Maine, and Massachusetts, and Washington, and Oregon.
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@jegga said in Interesting reads:
Not sure if you caught this,
Yeah I've seen a few bits and pieces on him. To me he was a bit too much of a 'wank' bass player as opposed to someone absolutely awesome at keeping the low end with groove, soul, funk, rhythm etc.
Definitely a really tragic end to an amazing talent.
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@jegga said in Interesting reads:
Not sure if you caught this,
He has a new record out from the tour where I was lucky to meet him. Came early to a club to grab a good table (there was no reserve seating), got in early enough to see him do a soundcheck. Right after he made a beeline to my table to show me and a friend photographs of his very young son. He had no pretensions about him, was a very tall guy, long hair, wore his headband, made eye-contact and began talking like he knew us. (Maybe he thought he did?) Miss him, happy to have the records. Have since learned he had an affair with Joni Mitchell when he was in her band. I might have asked him about it, if I’d known...
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Good (kinda scary) read.
Are you ready? Here is all the data Facebook and Google have on you
Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you | Dylan Curran
The harvesting of our personal details goes far beyond what many of us could imagine. So I braced myself and had a look
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@salacious-crumb said in Interesting reads:
Good (kinda scary) read.
Are you ready? Here is all the data Facebook and Google have on you
Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you | Dylan Curran
The harvesting of our personal details goes far beyond what many of us could imagine. So I braced myself and had a look
Read the fine print. Silicon Valley is your new bestest friend. They’re only here to help.
Grindr Is Letting Other Companies See User HIV Status And Location Data
A data analysis conducted by an outside research firm, and independently verified by BuzzFeed News, shows that a popular gay dating app is sharing sensitive information about its users’ HIV status with two other companies.
Grindr Is Sharing The HIV Status Of Its Users With Other Companies
A data analysis conducted by an outside research firm, and independently verified by BuzzFeed News, shows that a popular gay dating app is sharing its users’ HIV status with two other companies. <i>(Update: Late on Monday Grindr said it would stop sharing this information.)</i>
Who Killed Jaco Pastorius?
