JustBritish

I will be honest, I didn’t think I was going to like this Adam Carolla’s Carcast podcast. I had lots of visions of Carolla’s “The Man Show” and really didn’t think the way I envisioned him treating the automotive subject would be up my alley. Well, I was wrong. Mostly I was wrong about how he treats the subject. Sure he is an sometimes foul mouthed smart-ass, but then I have to admit that I can be too.

What really surprised me is the amount of knowledge he has and that he isn’t just interested in hot rods and muscle cars. For instance the most recent show, for August 27, featured a woman named Kelley Styring who is basically a social anthropologist. She studies people by what she finds in their cars. Additionally, Carolla and his co-host Sandy Ganz take a look at Ganz’s newest purchase, a Sunbeam Tiger. Now those are the kind of cars I want to talk about.

Looking down the list I see other episodes dealing with the Mitty Challenge at Road Atlanta, an interview with Tim Suddard of Classic Motorsports Magazine and Grassroot Motorsport, and HSR vintage racing at Fontana. Those are just a few of the shows that I have queued up to listen to.

So, give Carcast a try, let me know what you think, and please pass along recommendations for any other podcasts that might be of interest.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Guest post by Hannah Warder

When you are going for a leisurely drive, or even just your daily commute, it is nice to listen to some music instead of listening to people talking and laughing on the radio. But what songs are particularly popular to listen to while driving, and why? We’ve found five songs which are played in cars all over the UK, on the motorway, driveway, and probably in the line at a fast food drive through too.

The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy

This song is featured on the Top Gear Seriously Cool Driving Music CD set (1), and it is easy to see why. It’s a sing-along tune known through the generations. Of course this song works particularly well if used by a group of men who are literally back in town!

Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen

One to sing your heart out to, Don’t Stop Me Now is another classic driving song. You would find it hard to be feeling angry listening to this, even if you were stuck in a traffic jam.

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic – Sting and the Police

Sting seems to be a popular choice for a more chilled out journey in the car, but doesn’t skimp on the catchy lyrics front either. Just because it topped the UK charts in November 1981 (2), it doesn’t mean it isn’t still cool today.

Wouldn’t it be Nice – The Beach Boys

Another upbeat song! This song makes us want to roll down the windows (or a convertible roof) and drive next to an ocean on a warm summers day. Although once you listen to one Beach Boys song it is easy to get into the mood for the whole album.

Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

There have been a couple of covers of this song in the past year, but the Journey one is the most classic. Like the other songs above, Don’t Stop Believing is just as catchy and easy to sing along to. In fact, this seems like a recurring theme when it comes to driving music; if you can sing along to it, and it makes you happy, it is destined to be a song for your journey.

About the author: Hannah Warder writes for MediaVest (Manchester) on a number of topics, including car insurance.

References

(1)  Amazon – Top Gear Songs.

(2) Amazon – The Police.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Never text while driving. Call with caution while driving.

But there’s one phone application made specifically for use on the road — GPS navigation. Already, several car nav programs for mobiles are available, but today the most highly anticipated of them arrived: the TomTom app for iPhone, which was announced in June.

The app was designed to closely emulate GPS navigation units for cars, and indeed it has turn-by-turn directions, voice instructions, touch-screen commands, a choice of 2D or 3D mapping, day/night screen choices and coverage of the U.S. and Canada.

The price is not cheap — $99.99 — but that’s less than the cost of the vast majority of dedicated car navigation units. Of course, the iPhone screen is smaller than the ones on most car units.

The tech blog will have a full review of the app, upcoming, but early buyers who posted online had one main complaint — the vocal directions on the TomTom iPhone app do not include street names.

At the June announcement of the product, TomTom said it also would make available a windshield mount for phone. No word yet on when that would be available or at what price.

BTW, if you still need convincing of the dangers of texting while driving, view this public service commercial recently released in the U.K. It does have graphic content: It takes a much stronger stomach than any slasher flick.

– David Colker in the Los Angeles Times

Popularity: 1% [?]

As the new season of Top Gear starts, you can almost feel the excitement on the wires. Well, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but people really are eagerly awaiting the new season of their favorite car show.

As proof, check out the new fansite dedicated to Top Gear at site www.topgearshow.com. With subject ranging from the recent Stig reveal controversy to the reviewed cars themselves, there is a ton of good information on the site. (Let’s just hope they devote a nice section to Oliver, my favorite car from the show.) They are trying to create the ultimate fan site that is dedicated to classic moments of May, Clarkson and Hammond, so stop by and take a look.

And don’t forget to tune in to Top Gear!

Popularity: 1% [?]