Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
UP: To Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, for turning to two wheels. At the recent AMA/ ProStar event in Indianapolis, the legendary hot rodder and creator of the famous Rat Fink character presented Kawasaki drag racers Rickey Gadson and Steve Rice with cartoon caricatures of themselves astride their racebikes. Truly funny stuff—the art, that is. Roth is also modifying a Vulcan 1500 called— what else?—the “Big Daddy Drifter.”
DOWN: To the “Big C,” for depriving the world of motorcycling chef Jennifer Paterson. One-half of the BBC’s television cooking duo, “The Two Fat Ladies,” 71-year-old Paterson died of cancer last July. With portly partner Clarissa Dickson Wright, Paterson smoked, drank and traveled aboard a Triumph with sidecar, seeking out intriguing recipes and avantgarde ingredients. She, and her arteryhardening dishes, will be missed.
UP: To the town of Brooklyn, Ohio, for banning the use of cellular telephones while driving. Reportedly, the new law makes it a minor misdemeanor to operate a cell phone unless both hands are on the steering wheel. “We’re not trying to ban the phones,” says Police Chief James F. Maloney. “We’re saying, if you want to dial 911, use it. If you’re gonna chat about the weather, and ‘I’ll see you tonight, we’re going out on a date,’ and so forth, pull on the side of the road.” Brooklyn, located south of Cleveland, was also the first U.S. jurisdiction to mandate the wearing of seatbelts.
