Sunday, March 12, 2006

The Hummer Touch

We were strolling down Newton Street in Manchester when I suddenly dashed off to the traffic light down the street. Just when the light turned green I managed to take a picture of this 'slightly adapted' Hummer. One might say it's a bit over the top, but with three rear axles, you definitely GO STYLE, as the license plate says.

Need to find the address of the man who has a site where he publishes special license plates.

I must admit I wouldn't mind if spring started now. Perhaps publishing an inspiring image of Val's barge in Brussels helps.
Photos Koos Fernhout

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Koos,
I do not recognize Val's barge, the Veereniging, in the picture. See her blog if you want to know how it looks ;-)
Or am I terribly mistaken?
Erik-Jan.

Anonymous said...

I meant Vereeniging off-course.
Erik-Jan.

Koos F said...

Hi Erik-Jan
Val's Dutch barge in Rotterdam is Vereeniging.
Val's Belgian barge in Brussels is called Ténacité.
Erg hè?
Koos

Anonymous said...

Hi Koos,
So she is really lucky!!!
Seen the Ténacité picture before.
Did not realize it was Val's too.
Now I understand why you spent so much time in Belgium.
Erik-Jan.

meylog said...

The hummer touch.
Hebben we dit autootje laatst niet in Havana aan de Waal geparkeerd zien staan ?

Koos F said...

Hallo Henk,
Bewijst maar eens dat ik met al dat reizen de schoonheid van ons eigen land negeer hè?

Hoe vond je m'n (o.a.) nautische foto's van Manchester?

Dale said...

Dear Koos

That is quite the Hummer, to say the least!

I work at a Ford car dealership, but we ordered in a Hummer for a very good customer of ours who wanted to do the deal through us.

He is Dutch, by the way.
I'm not sure where he is from & they are very wealthy, but you'd never know it - such down-to-earth people! Their name is Paagman.
They have a farm here where they raise their 8 wonderful kids & several beautiful Friesian horses.

We also sold a Hummer to the owner of the Lakeside Pub. He has it "chromed out", so one can't miss it coming down the road. Only a single rear axle, though...

Great photos, Koos!

Love
Dale

Anne-Marie said...

Hi Koos,
I can't even imagine how drivers manage those monstrosities on the more narrow streets of Europe, or why you would even want to navigate those things.

Spring is on its way, guaranteed! We're hovering over 10C these last few days, and although I know it might only be temporary, it sure is comforting.

Cheers,
AM

meylog said...

Nautische en andere foto's van Manchester.

Nooit geweest of gezien en toch zo vertrouwd.

Mij trof de frappante gelijkenis van deze industriele monumenten met wat je hier in Belgie en Duitsland kunt zien in de oude havengebieden.
Dezelfde melancholieke uitstraling.
Er zou meer voor gepleit moeten worden om deze monumenten uit een recent verleden een nieuw leven in te blazen, door er inwendig moderne wooneenheden in te creeren en uitwendig er niets aan te veranderen, alleen consolideren.
Je moet er toch niet aan denken dat zoiets gesloopt wordt?

Prachtige stemmingsfoto's trouwens.

Zo deze hartekreet mag je van mij in het engels transleten.

Koos F said...

Hi Erik-Jan
We feel very rich, 2 main barges in Rotterdam and a weekend barge in Brussels (it'll have to go though, 3 barges between the two of us, it's a bit too much: for sale).

Dale, you have this unique way of enriching the subject with your experiences, I like that. The Lakeside Pub keeps popping up, eh? And Paagman sounds terribly familiar; I read it's the name of an important bookstore in The Hague.

Anne Marie, Great fun to see you and VallyP write.
Those huge Hummers only fit in main Streets, where they are supposed to parade. No problem for a truck driver with experience.
Our temperature has made a dive below zero C again. Yuk.

Henk, Ik bedenk net dat Cockerill een Engelse naam is...

Anonymous said...

Hi Koos and Val,
So you are going to sell one of them?
Anyway the Ténacité seems to wide for the harbour here (max 4.40 Mtrs. wide). I would prefer YOU keep all three. The Luxor and Vereeniging might fit here if you really want to sell, I'll ask my companions. Our "Stichting Historische Haven Naarden" likes to buy one classic ship/barge, but not on a short notice, to be used as an office (Havenkantoor) and shop/museum in the future.
Anyway, would be nice if you can keep an home in Belgium as well as in Rotterdam.
Erik-Jan.
P.S. If you wonder why I didn't visit you yet, it is just because I really have to solve some things over here.

Fleur de Bee said...

hahahaha You see those Hummer Limos all over LA and Vegas! I even saw a neon green painted one. How funny!

Does that one qualify as a land barge?

Same time and place on Wednesay! Val is most welcome too!

James Casey said...

I think I've only ever seen a vehicle like that once. You get a lot of stretch limos in central London, especially around Piccadilly; also in my part of West London, because I live near the Hammersmith Palais.

Mary Beth said...

Hi Koos,

What I want to know is how they turn a corner with that thing without running over fire hydrants and little old ladies walking their poodles! It's quite a monstrosity. I wonder how much that one costs?

I, too, long for springtime. It's the time of year when we're so sick of the snow here, and nature is giving us temperatures a *little* above freezing, just to taunt us with a *little* melting of snow, but not completely. It's an exercise in hope and patience every day forsure!

Dale said...

Dear Koos

If you get a moment, please check out my current post!

Thanks

Love
Dale

Anonymous said...

Hi Koos,
Nice artwork on Dale's blog.
She will never know 'cause only bloggers can give a response.
Anyway pass the message if you'll ever meet her ;-)
Erik-Jan.

elena said...

Hi Koos,

Very nice pictures!!! Wow, what a vehicle!!...it's great

Elena
XXXXXX

Dale said...

Hi Koos

It was fun chatting yesterday!

Thanks to Erik Jan for his kind comment regarding Mr Moon.

I am eagerly awaiting your next post.
Possibly entitled "The Humour Touch"?

Love
Dale

Dale said...

I forgot to ask you - do you speak Flemish, too?

I believe it is closely related to Dutch.

Dale

James Casey said...

I was told Flemish and Dutch were essentially dialects of Nederlands...?

Koos F said...

Hi James,
Fun to chat with you yesterday!

Here's my comment on Dale's remark as posted in her comments section, but before that:
Nederlands is the same as Dutch, the official language for the Low Countries (=nether lands), so for my country and Flanders. The latter, however have their own version, not officially, but definitely in practice (incl. tv, newspapers), called Flemish.

For Dale I wrote
"Flemish...
The West-Flemish complain that their interviews on Flemish tv are sub-titled, or else the other Flems would have no clue what they say! (That complaint was sub-titled too!!!)
Do I speak it? I can make a general Flemish sound, could maybe impersonate reliably a [Flemish]news reader (but they try -and fail- to speak General Civilised Dutch, sort of the King's*) Dutch).
So the answer should be no, I can't, just as I can't emulate any other accent than Amsterdams reliably. I lived there around my 11th year, the most impressionable age when it comes to accents.
Oops that is a long reply ;-)
Love
Koos"

*) The Dutch king