Running Etiquette

A runner shouldn't really have to worry about automobile traffic at 5 am.

But my last two pre-dawn runs involved 4 separate right-of-way negotiations. Hey, I realize that it's hockey season now, so I guess I should expect a significant increase in pre-dawn traffic, but I'd prefer not to have to have strain my brain so much before I've had my morning coffee.

OK, I don't drink coffee...but you know what I mean.

When I arrive at an intersection the same time as a vehicle, my preference has always been for the car to go first. From a very young age, I have realized that a guy on foot cannot possibly benefit from any sort of physical confrontation with a mobile block of metal, so I prefer to exercise caution...even if I do have the right of way. In other words, even if it's legally my turn, I am reluctant to walk (or run) in front of a moving car.

But most drivers are equally cautious and (in my experience) are usually pretty polite when it comes to joggers with reflective vests. So, what happens is that I stop, they stop, and we each wave to indicate that the other should go first.

Maybe if I was a faster runner, I'd feel differently...but once I've slowed down in anticipation of the vehicle making the turn in front of me, it's not like I'm going to rocket across just because I've received the wave. The car could complete their turn in 2 seconds, meaning that I probably wouldn't have to even alter my pace. But if I go, then there's a 10 second disruption in the flow for each of us.

Of course, there's no mental telepathy going on, so I guess that's just the way it's going to be. I appreciate the driver's position, and I would probably behave the same way if I were behind the wheel. But for those of you who are likely to cross my path before swim practice in the morning, if I wave you to go, please do.

Thanks. (Of course, if I am totally wrong on the etiquette here, please let me know. I'm pretty confident about my knowledge of the rules of lap lane behavior in a swimming pool, but will happily defer to my runner friends in matters like this.)

Anyway, the point is that the vehicle in the picture above is the Hoyt Clagwell tractor belonging to Mr. Oliver Wendell Douglas. The brand name is actually fictional (as was Mr. Douglas...though I'm pretty sure that Hootersville is a real place.) The real tractor was built by the Fordson company, a spinoff of the Ford Motor Company in the years after the Model T.

Unfortunately, they don't build them anymore. And as far as I know, they no longer make flux capacitors, either.



I'm sure everyone remembers that Doc Brown came up with the idea for time travel when he slipped in the bathroom. So, the answer to question number 1 is "C".

Sorry, but I have no idea what powers Tron's motorcycle, or why a computer construct is riding a motorcycle in the first place. Or why Tron sucked so incredibly thoroughly.

But I do know that the actor who played Jaws was Richard Kiel, and that Moe Szyslak serves Duff beer. And if you clicked on the link about holographic messages, you undoubtedly recognized that the clip was from "Buckaroo Banzai." If you have not seen that movie, you should watch it. It is unquestionably the best movie ever made about invading Lectroids from Planet 10 in the 8th Dimension. Unquestionably.

Philo Farnsworth gets credit for inventing the television, which originally used a device called a cathode ray tube to display the picture. When I wrote that question, I realized that kids born today may never ever see a cathode ray tube, just as they'll never see a dial telephone. Why, back in my day...

Um, wait, I'm off topic. A Jeffries tube is one of these things:



Walter Matthew (Matt) Jeffries was the set designer for Star Trek TOS, so the tube was named after him. The answer to question 3 is "D".

The answer to question 4 is also "D". Mel Blanc provided the voice for Twikki, the grotesque robot (aka "ambuquad") that was the compelling reason NOT to watch the "Buck Rogers" TV show. Fortunately, Erin Gray (pictured here) was appealing enough to counteract Twikki's powers of repulsion. I hardly ever missed an episode. It was fun to see how many discarded "Battlestar Gallactica" props they would use each week.

"Buck" was not good science fiction, nor a particularly good television program...but it was amusing. And I thought Ms. Gray was every bit as attractive as the Bionic Woman. Ah, those were the days, weren't they?

But I digress. The answer to question 5 is "C". So which Bond is your favorite?



The answer to question 6 is "B." In the movie "This Island Earth," the planet Metaluna sends a bunch of guys with extra-large foreheads to recruit Earth's greatest scientists to help them do some kinda sciency stuff. I forget exactly what. But they used triangular TVs to communicate, and called them "Interocitors."



The badges Picard wears are called "Communication badges", Ekosian Nazi interrogators are called "Ekosian Nazis", and the Y-shaped time-travel thingy might actually be called a "flux compressor." If you look closely at the Back to the Future picture above, you'll see that the label doesn't contain anything about capacitors. But you can't really be sure, what with all those deviating chalkboard timelines and whatnot.

Anyway, Kwai Chang Caine was a Shaolin monk. Darth and Luke were infested with Midichlorians, and Chris Jackson changed his name to Mock-mood Abdool Raw-oof, or something like that. Therefore, the Mondoshawans must be these guys:



They're the good aliens from the movie "The Fifth Element," which is also a classic. The Mondoshawans aren't onscreen much during the film, which is fine, since they seem to be made of the same basic materials as Twikki. They are a bit larger and obviously more intelligent -- and apparently aren't robots. But it doesn't really matter, since the movie is actually centered around the love story between the cab driver and the reconstituted kung fu goddess.

Anyway, there are two movie recommendations for you; "Buckaroo" and "Fifth". I also watched another film I'd recommend over the weekend; "Not Another Not Another Movie." It made me laugh out loud a few times, and that's enough to get it a recommendation. I hope to see "Ender's Game" and maybe even "Gravity" in the next week or two. Perhaps I'll have some cinematic experience opinions to share at that point. In the meantime, please enjoy the remaining autumn colors, and have a great day!