rstevens: Representing for Ike

rstevens (

rstevens) wrote,
@ 2008-10-07 20:30:00

Current music:

Feed the Animals - Girl Talk

Representing for Ike
No matter your president, I defy them to create something better than the Eisenhower Interstate System:

Eisenhower Interstate System sign

And I also defy them to create a creepier Halloween shirt than this one, which just arrived in my warehouse to-day:

(Post a new comment)

	rspeed 2008-10-08 12:57 am UTC (link)
	Don't you mean "wilya"? (Reply to this)

	dancingcomic 2008-10-08 01:04 am UTC (link)
	I don't like the way that clown is looking at me. (Reply to this)

	kittydoom 2008-10-08 01:49 am UTC (link)
	Lols on the Wil sweater shirt. I WANT ONE! (Reply to this)

	charitylarrison 2008-10-08 02:01 am UTC (link)
	for a (wonderful) minute I thought you were doing An Eisenhower Interstate System t shirt (Reply to this) (Thread)

	gilmoure 2008-10-08 02:46 am UTC (link)
	Hell yeah! I'd buy one. Would be my first non-grab pack shirt since Metal Steve Skull shirt, back in '03. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	saddestwookiee 2008-10-08 04:26 am UTC (link)
	YES. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 04:28 am UTC (link)
	I'm not sure what the rules are, but I am kind of into the idea of wearing such basic signage as a t-shirt. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	norrin_raz 2008-10-08 04:46 am UTC (link)
	I cite the "Mind the Gap" t-shirt my roommate has had (and re-ordered and re-ordered) for years as reason to push for such a t-shirt. (Reply to this) (Parent)

belgand
2008-10-08 02:32 am UTC (link)

The Interstate system helped contribute to the death of rail in this country and has been responsible for us spending forever driving all the time. Not to mention the increase in long-haul trucking compared to using rail to distribute long distance, then moving containers to trucks for local delivery.

No, the Interstate system, while it has positives, has seriously warped our country and helped create the car-dependent culture most of us currently live in.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 04:29 am UTC (link)
	Amen to that. I had to go to a convention this weekend and the rail options were pitiful. I might have a higher opinion of highways than most because I work at home and do long car rides infrequently these days. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	belgand 2008-10-08 04:39 am UTC (link)
	Ah, I'm unemployed in the city so I typically drive once a week or so at most and either take public transit or just stay inside my house and don't emerge for days on end. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	norrin_raz 2008-10-08 04:31 am UTC (link)
	goddamn. trues? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

belgand
2008-10-08 04:38 am UTC (link)

Somewhat. It was certainly a factor, but definitely not the only one by a long shot. Still, I think we need to acknowledge it. Traveling long distances by car is simply a terrible idea, not just for the environment, but because of how mind-destroyingly boring it is.

I drove from Eastern Kansas to San Francisco a couple years ago and it would have been much nicer to do that as a perhaps two-three day train trip than the four day car trip it took.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

norrin_raz
2008-10-08 04:43 am UTC (link)

Oh, I didn't mean about the U.S. car-obsession being a bad thing, but the direct correlation between Ike's Interstate System and the decline in railroads and all that being so strong. Perhaps I just cooked up conspiracist notions in my head behind that ("Ike's in league with Buick!") because it seems so fantastic. Not unlikely, really, just a hell of a thing to swallow.

(DISCLOSURE: My uncle, like all uncles, is a train enthusiast.)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 04:45 am UTC (link)
	I also must admit to adoring the idea of trains! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	norrin_raz 2008-10-08 04:49 am UTC (link)
	Oh, rstevens, are you asking if you can be my uncle? Aw, shucks. Sure. (Another successive conspiracy quotable that flashed by: "Be Like Ike--Buy GM!" or, as a campaign slogan, "Wouldn't You Really Rather Have... an Eisenhower?) (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 04:51 am UTC (link)
	You wouldn't want me as an uncle. I wouldn't buy you beer when underaged! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

belgand
2008-10-08 04:56 am UTC (link)

That's not the responsibility of an uncle. An uncle should be a vaguely disreputable sort. The type who never entirely grew up and inspires one to dreams of romantic travel. Someone who can regale you with tales of their many escapades.

Then again, this depends on the uncle. This is the approved manner for younger siblings who are uncles, older siblings are crotchety and unpleasant. They are the kind of uncles who show you what life will do to you if you choose wrong.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	norrin_raz 2008-10-08 04:57 am UTC (link)
	Well, if that's so, and my other train-lovin' uncle buys 'imself Near Beer at this point in his life, I'll never be able to tell which one's the cool uncle. You're outta the running. Now to go back to petitioning Stranger Than Fiction-era Maggie Gyllenhaal to be my cool aunt. It's always back to the drawing board with you, Stevens! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 05:02 am UTC (link)
	I have failed my only non-nephew and or niece! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	norrin_raz 2008-10-08 05:08 am UTC (link)
	No slash between "and" and "or!" Automatic amnesty earned and granted, sir; you're back in. However, now I've spent all this time with my cool non-uncle, it's time I go finish my book report (book reports? in college? really?) on Lester Bangs for journalism. Gonzo, and away! (Reply to this) (Parent)

belgand
2008-10-08 04:51 am UTC (link)

That's what I meant as well. There were plenty of other factors involved in the decline of the train system such as when I mentioned this same thing the other day and was called out with:

"It's a combination of deregulation of airlines, increased consumer infatuation with speed over convenience, abandonment of the right of way to freight over passengers, increased federal subsidies to airlines in combination with decreased subsidies to train service and regulation of train service in 1971"

None of which I can disagree with. Still, I think it was relevant and important.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

belgand
2008-10-08 04:54 am UTC (link)

I can't say I adore trains. People who are really into trains or especially model trains almost always tend to be very unpleasantly weird types. Even worse if they're specifically into steam-powered trains.

I just think that they make a lot of sense for regional travel. Most of the rest of the world (e.g. Europe and Japan because the other parts of the world are largely believed not to matter very much) seems to be getting along rather well with trains. For us, however, it's exceedingly expensive and rarely used. Part of that is, of course, living in a needlessly large country (if you've ever driven across it you've come to notice how much wasted space we have), but it's also due to many other factors.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	norrin_raz 2008-10-08 05:16 am UTC (link)
	Daww. Not even the S1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PRR-S1-Loewy.jpg)? OMG, graphics design war: cars vs. trains! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	belgand 2008-10-08 05:20 am UTC (link)
	That is a very flash train with a great art deco aesthetic that I am a complete sucker for. But I must still decline. Train fetishism is a distinct problem. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

norrin_raz
2008-10-08 05:30 am UTC (link)

I concede. Looking at that brief, regrettable dispute between myself and my non-uncle, when the clear loser had already been demonstrated via near-beer, I can see that you're not only right, you're being safe and responsible. Among this throng that supports anti-train interstate systems, public domain graphics theft, and, most heinous of all, pixellated clown-sweater proliferation, you may be the only responsible one here.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	belgand 2008-10-08 05:45 am UTC (link)
	Well, I think the obvious solution to determining the correct uncle has long ago been decided by The Onion(Stoner Uncle All The Kids' Favorite) as is so often the case. (Reply to this) (Parent)

belgand
2008-10-09 03:15 am UTC (link)

I also just remembered one of the best things about trains: sex on trains is vastly superior to sex on planes. Sex in moving cars is much more challenging and typically requires at least a van for any degree of comfort or vague concept of privacy. Sex while driving yourself is just plain dangerous and ill-advised.

Not to mention the train itself being a massive phallic symbol and a great big moving innuendo.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	wick98 2008-10-08 01:24 pm UTC (link)
	Agreed with this. As a lover of road trips and driving in general, I still say the interstate system is a double-edged sword. Maybe someday we will have a president who understands the environmental sense in an efficient regional high speed rail system. (Reply to this) (Parent)

kaiserbrown
2008-10-08 05:44 am UTC (link)

No love for the Tennessee Valley Authority or the similarly related Rural Electrification? or Social Security?

Perhaps alone they don't match the coolness factor of the interstates individually, but they're all under the same president, and Social Security is one of the more progressive things the country has ever done. Until Social Security, most older people lived either destitute or with their children or both. Setting up a system that for 70 years has helped retirees live independent lives has gotta be up there on cool things (especially since at the current rate Social Security will pay out in full until the mid 2030's).

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	belgand 2008-10-08 05:46 am UTC (link)
	No. Those were all completely terrible things. Especially social security. No to socialism! No to rural peoples! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	kaiserbrown 2008-10-08 07:34 am UTC (link)
	Calm down, Senator McCain! You know what happens when you get your dander up. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Comparing me to McCain is just low.... belgand 2008-10-08 12:54 pm UTC (link)
	I'm sorry Sarah, but I'm not McCain. Now why don't you go have a lie down, you've got a big exciting day tomorrow and you don't want to be all tired for it do you? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 01:40 pm UTC (link)
	but but but they need awesome utilitarian logos! (you're right, tho) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rstevens 2008-10-08 01:42 pm UTC (link)
	I take it back! the TVA logo is hot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US-TennesseeValleyAuthority-Logo.svg (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	kaiserbrown 2008-10-08 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	Still not as cool as the five stars, though. Also, while dams are awesome, it's hard not to love a road system that can double as an emergency airfield in the case of Ruskie attack. Ike was kinda the bomb. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	belgand 2008-10-09 03:12 am UTC (link)
	Wow... that is just so monolithic and Big Brother-y. I feel like I'm completely powerless in the face of the TVA. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	morbid_o 2008-10-08 03:45 pm UTC (link)
	Always vote Ike. (Reply to this)

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