U.S. Speed Limits and I Can’t Drive . . . 15?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by chimesfreedom

15 mph sign On May 21 in 1901, Connecticut passed the first state speed law regulating motor vehicles. That first law limited city drivers to 12 mph but allowed drivers in the country to go up to 15 mph.

At the time, there had been other speed laws for non-motorized vehicles such as horse-drawn wagons, including laws banning such wagons from proceeding at “a gallop.” But the 1901 Connecticut law prompted other states to start passing similar laws, which eventually led to you getting that speeding ticket.

Some of our readers may remember the 1970s when rising gas prices caused states to lower speed limits, culminating with President Richard Nixon in January 1974 signing the National Maximum Speed Law, making the national speed limit 55 mph. I recall a public service campaign designed to get drivers to obey the new laws. One 1978 television commercial that stood out for me was one about Grinnell, Iowa. In my many years of driving, I have often thought about the commercial that makes a powerful argument for not driving too fast. The producers do a good job of drawing you in before hitting you with a powerful — and yes manipulative — message. In case you do not remember the commercial, check it out below.

By 1987, though, concerns about fuel supplies diminished and Congress passed a law allowing states to raise speed limits up to 65 mph. Then in 1995 the national speed limit was completely repealed, leaving it up to each state to set its own speed limits. Apparently, we decided we wanted to get to our destinations faster even if we were to wipe out poor Grinnell.

While many credit the 1987 increase and the later 1995 repeal to a drop in concern about fuel availability, I give full credit to a protest song by Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55,” which was released in 1984 on his VOA album. It is one of the most famous songs written in response to Congressional legislation.

Hagar has explained that he came up with the idea for the song when he was driving in upstate New York at 2 a.m. after returning to the U.S. after a long plane trip. When an officer pulled over Hagar for going 62 mph on a four-lane highway, a weary and exasperated Hargar uttered the immortal words, “I can’t drive 55,” realizing immediately it was a great idea for a song. As soon as he arrived to his house in Lake Placid, he sat down and wrote the rest of the song. And the rest, like the national speed limit law, is history.

What is your favorite song about speeding? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Ray Manzarek of The Doors Passes Away

    Posted on May 20, 2013 by chimesfreedom

    Ray Manzarek Keyboard Doors Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors, passed away today at age 74. After Jim Morrison’s death at a young age, Manzarek became a recognizable face preserving the legacy of the great band. In this Break It Down video from L/Studio, Manzarek tells a little about the history of the band and how he came up with some of those great keyboard riffs. Among the stories, Manzarek tells how John Coltrane‘s “My Favorite Things” inspired a famous Doors keyboard part. Check it out.

    Below is The Doors live at the Hollywood Bowl in 1968, where you can hear Jim Morrison’s immortal voice accompanying Manzarek’s keyboard playing.

    What is your favorite keyboard riff by Ray Manzarek? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale Team Up for a Tiny Desk Concert

    Posted on May 19, 2013 by chimesfreedom

    Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, who at the end of 2012 released their first joint album appropriately called Buddy and Jim (2012), recently stopped by the offices of National Public Radio. The result, which is part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, was some great music and a lot of fun. Check it out.

    The songs in the video are: “The Train That Carried My Gal From Town,” “It Hurts Me,” and “I Lost My Job Of Loving You.” As someone who likes Lauderdale and already has every Buddy Miller album, I may have to get around to getting this collaboration just for the excellent harmonies.

    What is your favorite album by Buddy Miller or Jim Lauderdale? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Human Beings Have This Miraculous Gift: Creed in The Grass Roots

    Posted on May 17, 2013 by chimesfreedom

    Creed The Office Grass Roots Band
    I have been watching the U.S. version of The Office since it first premiered, and I was sad tonight to see the series end. Finishing a good book or ending a long-running T.V. series can do something that movies cannot accomplish by making you feel like you are losing a life-long friend. There will be plenty of articles critiquing The Office finale and comparing it to other series’ final episodes. I might think about those questions at some point, but tonight I just enjoyed seeing the characters one last time. Right now, though, what amazes me is that I watched the series all these years and did not know that the character Creed Bratton, played by Creed Bratton, had been in the Grass Roots. How did I miss that?

    The final episode noted that the character Creed had been in the Grass Roots, and then when he sang at the end while playing guitar, it made me realize that they were not joking. After searching for the lyrics (along the lines of “I saw a friend today . . . we forgot each other’s names” and “all the faces that I know have that same familiar glow”), I found that it is indeed a Creed Bratton song, “All the Faces.” Here is a live version of Creed singing the song he sang on The Office finale. Nice.

    Creed joined the Grass Roots in 1967 and played guitar on songs like the classic, “Let’s Live for Today.” Creed is the guy in this video in the striped shirt on your left.

    Bratton quit the band two years later, and his life did not go so well. By the nineties he was doing catering jobs, but then he got a big break when he got a job in 2005 on The Office playing someone with the same name as him. Creed continued to work on his music, and he even got to jam out in the following clip, where he revealed his Grass Roots past (but at that time I thought it was just a joke).

    Creed is releasing new music with Tell Me About It, a three-part “audio biography.” Check out “Faded Spats.”

    Two members of the Grass Roots — Rob Grill and Ricky Coonce — have passed away. In addition to Creed, Warren Entner is still alive. The two are still good friends.

    In tonight’s episode of The Office, near the end, the character Creed talks about how life is “arbitrary” in the way things happen in one’s life. But, he explains, no matter where one ends up, “human beings have this miraculous gift” to make a place their home. With a life of ups and downs, the real Creed found a home on The Office and now is using that home to go on to other things. Although he will always be that odd guy on The Office to me, he is of course much more than that. In this video, Creed talks about the new album and how it reflects his life. It looks like we haven’t heard the last of Creed Bratton.



    What is your favorite Creed moment on The Office? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “First” Interracial Kiss on TV

    Posted on May 15, 2013 by chimesfreedom

    The first interracial kiss on broadcast television is often cited as having occurred in a Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” featuring Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. Maybe they were able to break this new ground because the alien Platonians used their telekinetic powers to force the two to kiss. This scene aired November 22, 1968.

    In this brief interview clip, Shatner downplays the impact of the historical scene.

    In this video, Nichols explains how the kiss caused some controversy on set and how Shatner becomes a hero of the story. When NBC forced them to do the scene again without the kiss, Shatner ensured the kiss would be used by intentionally screwing up other takes without the kiss.

    Was it really the first interracial kiss on television? Other sources cite an interracial kiss on a British television show in 1964 between the characters Dr. Mahler (Joan Hooley) and Dr Farmer (John White) on the show Emergency Ward 10. Some also note that Our Gang segments had played on TV where the character Buckwheat, played by Billie Thomas, had kissed white girls.

    But even if Star Trek was not the first in the world, it was groundbreaking at the time, as was the role of Lt. Uhura. Even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at one point told Nichols that she played an important role as an officer where her race and gender were not an issue.

    What is your favorite rule-breaking scene from Star Trek? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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